Married to the Emperor's Fiercest General, Who Is Terrified of Me novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Morning Tea

The emperor jokes about the stable, the scholar lies beautifully, the three rules are set in the carriage, and Minister Hong threatens the general's favor.

The emperor took his tea in the Hall of Quiet Spring, on a couch, with his feet up on a cushion and his crown slightly crooked.

He was thirty-four, round-faced and bright-eyed, and he looked ready all morning for a good show.

Wenxuan bowed, and the general bowed beside him, stiff as a gate.

"Rise, rise," said the emperor. "Let me look at you."

He looked at Wenxuan's neck, then his wrists, then his face.

"No bruises," he said, sounding disappointed.

"Your Majesty is kind to worry," said Wenxuan.

"The whole capital is worried. Do you know there's a betting house on Willow Street? They gave three to one that you'd be carried out by dawn."

"Then I hope someone lost money."

The courtiers along the wall chuckled behind their sleeves.

The emperor turned to the general.

"And you, Marshal? Did you enjoy your first night as a husband?"

The general opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

His ears went the color of cooked crab, and Wenxuan felt a cold small dread, because this was exactly the face the court would read as shame.

"The General is shy in front of crowds, Your Majesty," Wenxuan said smoothly.

"The Butcher of Hanlu Pass? Shy?"

"He's a man of deeds, not words. I'm told he sleeps like a mountain, and snores like one."

The room tittered.

"I'm told," the emperor said slowly, "that he slept in the stable."

A silence fell.

Wenxuan did not look at the general.

Someone in this room had a servant in the Ge manor, and had run to the palace before the sun was up.

"Your Majesty's ears are very quick," he said. "Yes, I sent him there."

"You sent him?"

"He snores so loudly the lanterns shook. I'm a light sleeper, and I wished to write."

The emperor stared at him.

Then he threw back his head and laughed until he had to wipe his eyes.

"Oh, that's good. The champion scholar throws the Marshal of the North out of bed for snoring. Hong, did you hear?"

A thin man in a ceremonial robe stood a little behind the couch with his hands folded inside his sleeves.

He was the Minister of Rites, Hong Shouqian, the one Wenxuan's memorial had made weep at court.

"I heard, Majesty," he said. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Marvelous."

"The Lantern Banquet is in ten days," said the emperor, wiping his face. "I command a poem from the champion, and I command the Marshal to read it aloud before the court."

"Your Majesty," said Hong gently, "the Marshal is not known for his reading."

"That's the joke, Hong."

"Of course, Majesty."

The general had gone completely rigid.

Wenxuan saw the emperor's eyes pass over him once, quick and strangely careful.

Then they were bright and silly again.

"Go home and be happy," said the emperor. "That's an order."

The carriage was cramped, and the general took up most of it.

He sat with his knees against the opposite wall and his huge hands on his thighs, looking out of the window.

Wenxuan folded his hands in his lap.

"Someone in your house is reporting to the palace," he said.

"I know."

"You know?" said Wenxuan.

"I will find them."

"Don't. They'll only be replaced by someone you don't know." Wenxuan tilted his head. "For now, we should give them something to report. I have rules."

The general turned. He looked frightened, and also ready to obey.

"Rule one. You sleep in the bedroom. Not the stable. I'll have a mat laid by the wall."

"Yes," said the general.

"Rule two. We eat together, at the table, three meals. You look at me for the whole time I'm talking. And we touch only when someone is watching."

"The whole time?" said the general.

"I'll count."

He seemed to swallow something. "Yes."

"Rule three."

Wenxuan paused.

This was the part he had worked out in the palace corridor, while the emperor laughed.

It was sensible, and fair, and it sat in his chest.

"In a year and a day, if either of us wants out, we ask the emperor quietly for a divorce. No fuss. No questions. By then the court will have forgotten us."

The carriage rattled over the bridge.

The general did not move at all.

Then he said, in a very low voice, "That is fair."

"You agree?"

"Yes," said the general.

"You don't want to argue?"

"No," said the general.

"Not even a little?"

"No," said the general, and looked at the floor. "It is more than I thought I'd get."

Wenxuan opened his mouth to ask what that meant.

The carriage slowed, because the road ahead was blocked by a canopy and four bearers carrying an elegant sedan.

The curtain lifted, and Minister Hong's long face looked out at them across the width of the street.

"Champion Jing," he called, pleasant and clear. "A word of advice from an old man."

Wenxuan lifted his own curtain.

"A general who loses favor doesn't last long, you know. Enjoy him while he's here."

He smiled and let the curtain fall.

Beside Wenxuan, there was a soft, sharp crack.

He looked down.

The general's right hand was wrapped around the carriage rail, and the polished hardwood had split straight through under his fingers.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend