Chapter 34 Career Crisis (Part 3)
Tang Ying was usually skinny, probably because of her tall stature. When she stood, she looked like a flexible bamboo, but when she squatted down, she looked like a small ball. She became extremely flustered when she heard what Yao Niang said. She bowed silently and shrank back and forth into the table, indicating: I will not bother you, Lord Fu!
Fu Chen sat down calmly. Behind the desk was a row of bookshelves against the wall, which held files. The rosewood desk and chairs he used were large and heavy, with intricate carvings. It was said that the first commander of the Imperial Cavalry Division personally supervised the work and made them according to his preferences, and they remained unchanged despite the change of personnel.
There is a two-layer small table between the right side of the desk and the bookshelf, on which are placed some miscellaneous items that may be used at hand, such as a small teapot and teacups on the upper layer, and a paper cutter, spare inkstone and other items on the lower layer.
The space was small, and Tang Ying, who was squatting, was surrounded on three sides by a desk, a small table, and a bookshelf against the wall. After Fu Chen sat down, his pair of long legs ruthlessly blocked her way, and she had to lean against Fu Chen's thighs.
"Aunt Yao, I don't have the final say on this matter. Besides..." Fu Chen was tidying up the files on the table. He caught a glimpse of her little head and had the urge to touch it, but he controlled his impulse and turned his gaze to look directly at Aunt Yao: "She's fine the way she is. There's no need to mess with her."
"Hey, Fu boy, I really think it's not unfair that you can't get married at your age!" She wanted to poke Fu Chen's forehead with her slender jade fingers. Considering that he didn't like women to get close to him, she poked the newly painted red nail polish at him, revealing a seductive look: "What do you know? Apart from being full of blind loyalty and obsessed with promotion and glory, do you have any other hobbies? Do you know the fragrance of rouge and the charm of a girl?"
Every time Fu Chen faced Yao Niang's long speeches, he always felt that he had no way to resist, and could only change the subject with official business: "...Did your Shadow Department send anyone to accompany the princes to Beijing this time? Have the princes of various places made any unusual moves?"
Tang Ying: “…” Sir, is it really okay for you to discuss the secrets of the Forbidden Cavalry Division in front of me?
"I'm trying to find a way to contact them. Besides, these people have been away from the Forbidden Cavalry Bureau for a long time, so they might have other ideas. We have to investigate them one by one." Don't look at Yao Niang as a lazy person, but she has never made any mistakes in her work, otherwise she wouldn't have climbed to her current position.
Tang Ying was feeling uneasy. At first, when she listened to the official business that Fu Chen and Yao Niang were talking about, she realized that Yao Niang was the head of the Shadow Department of the Forbidden Cavalry Division, which was kept secret from the outside world. She knew that she shouldn't know about such things, but Commander Fu didn't seem to have any intention of avoiding suspicion, so she could only listen.
However, Tang Ying had never heard of many of the things they talked about. Without Chunniang's presence, the two of them were talking excitedly, but Tang Ying couldn't understand what they were saying, and she even fell asleep unconsciously.
Fu Chen was talking with Yao Niang about what the film department should pay attention to when he suddenly felt his thigh sink. He caught a glimpse of Tang Ying sleeping out of the corner of his eye. He had no idea what she had done last night. Just now he saw her small chin nodding, but now she was leaning on his lap unconscious. Her long and thick eyelashes cast a circle of shadows on her eyelids. Because her skin was as white as snow, the blue color of her lower eyelids was more obvious, as if she had been sleep deprived for a long time. The blood vessels at the corners of her forehead were faintly visible under the skin, and she looked unhealthy and morbid.
Is she...not sleeping well?
Commander Fu realized that he was distracted while staring at the sleeping Tang Ying. His hard heart skipped a beat, as if something in an invisible place was pulling at him. He was so surprised that he couldn't figure out what was going on, and soon he ignored it deliberately.
Fu Chen is calm and rational. He has clear goals and self-discipline since childhood. Even being eliminated from the palace examination did not make him lose his ability to think. After weighing the pros and cons, he joined the Forbidden Cavalry Division as quickly . But at this moment, he was stuck: "..." He forgot what he was going to say next.
Seeing his drooping eyes and speechless expression, Yao Niang thought he was thinking about something important, so she stretched and stood up: "If you see Xiaoying, send someone to bring her to me, so as not to waste her little appearance."
She said goodbye and went out. The door was gently closed, leaving only .
Master Fu acted decisively and without delay, but today was very strange. For half a day, countless rows of ink-colored handwriting floated in front of his eyes, but he didn't read a single word into his heart. It was as if all the senses in his body were gathered on his thighs. He was even thinking wildly, is her little head made of iron? I didn't think so at first, why did she sleep more and more deeply?
But he didn't know that she was still alert when she just fell asleep, and after she fell asleep, all the strength of her upper body was pressed on his legs.
No one knew what horrible scene she had dreamed of, but she clenched her teeth, tears streaming from her tightly closed eyes, her breathing became rapid, and she clutched the corner of Fu Chen's robe tightly, muttering incessantly: "Daddy, wait for me... wait for me..." Suddenly she sat up in a daze, forgetting that she was curled up on the ground, and her head hit the edge of the table heavily, waking up from her dream.
Without thinking, Fu Chen reached out and rubbed the place where she was hit twice: "Does it hurt?" He said it subconsciously, then realized that his behavior was inappropriate and slowly withdrew his hand.
Tang Ying was a little confused from sleep. She stared at the handsome face that was magnified in front of her and said stupidly, "No, it doesn't hurt." She rubbed her face and felt the water stains on her hands. She immediately wiped them with her sleeves, as if she was familiar with dealing with this situation: "I... I seem to have had a nightmare."
She hasn't had a good night's sleep for a long time since the White City was captured.
Every time she fell asleep, she either fought desperately in the enemy camp all night, or witnessed her father and brothers being hacked to death. But she was powerless and could only wake up crying from her dreams.
Fu Chen seemed to have no intention of letting her get up. He lowered his head and stared at her cheek: "You don't seem to be sleeping well?"
Tang Ying's limbs were too lazy to move. She was squeezed into this small space by him. After she woke up completely, she put on the armor she had taken off in the dream, covering up all her real emotions, not letting any sadness leak out. She leaned her head against the bookshelf. The weight on Fu Chen's thigh disappeared. She seemed to have a broken jar in her mind. She covered her eyes with one hand and laughed at herself: "Why do I get bumped into by adults every time? I'm almost too embarrassed to face people!"
Fu Chen thought about it again and again, and discussed with her: "Actually, Aunt Yao's medical skills are really good. Why don't you let her treat you? Or prescribe a tranquilizing soup?"
Tang Ying heard the concern in his words, and she looked up at him with a pair of water-washed eyes: "Are you going to pick on my earlobe too?" She tried to stand up but failed: "Please let me go, my lord. Poor sleep is not a big problem. Maybe it will get better after a while."
Fu Chen didn't move.
He seemed to be in the mood for small talk: "Why don't you tell me what nightmares you had?"
"Oh, I dreamed that I went to steal apricots in the heavy rain, but was discovered by the owner and severely beaten." She lied without hesitation, and even gestured seriously: "Such a wide board fell on my body, and it hurt just like the real thing. It's just a few apricots, it's so cruel!"
Fu Chen: “…” He knew that the little girl was not telling the truth.
He stared at Tang Ying with his eyes that could see through people's hearts, making Tang Ying feel that her embarrassment was almost exposed under his gaze. He stood up and said, "You can't sleep anyway, so why not pack up and follow Baoyi to keep watch tonight."
Just as the Feng character department is responsible for the safety of the emperor, the Huang character department is also responsible for the safety of the empress.
Fu Chen would take turns to be on night duty in the palace several times a month, and the Huangzi Department would also take turns on duty in the harem, with the Queen's Fukun Palace as the center of their patrol.
Baoyi was about thirty years old, with an ordinary appearance, the kind that you wouldn't be able to find in a crowd at first glance. He led a team of twelve people from the Phoenix Department to patrol the night. Tang Ying was the only newcomer, and it was her first time entering the palace. Baoyi took good care of Tang Ying, and took her to a sheltered place in the middle of the night to hide. He also quietly took out a small bag from his arms and handed it to her: "Drink a few sips to warm your body."
Tang Ying pulled out the cork and was hit by the strong smell of alcohol. She was stunned: "Can I drink alcohol while on night duty?"
Baoyi rubbed his hands and said sincerely, "It's cold, I'll drink a few sips to warm myself up."
Tang Ying: "You weren't sent by the Ninth Princess to frame me, were you?"
Baoyi laughed out loud: "You are such an interesting kid, no wonder Aunt Yao said you can't help being amused."
Tang Ying: "Are you Aunt Yao's subordinate?"
Baoyi snatched the sac and took a sip, as if he came back to life: "No, no, I'm too ugly. I can't catch Aunt Yao's eye. I can only work under Aunt Chun." He spoke as if following Aunt Yao would give him a bright future.
"Aunt Chun is a very nice person." Tang Ying heard a lot of stories about Aunt Yao in Fu Chen's room, and combined with Bao Yi's words, she had a general understanding of Aunt Yao.
Aunt Yao was most likely training a female spy to be deployed in the residences of various princes or ministers to collect intelligence, making it easier for the emperor to understand the thoughts of his subordinates.
After finally making it to dawn, Tang Ying followed her colleagues out of the palace. Unexpectedly, she met Fu Chen at the palace gate. He was still wearing yesterday's official uniform, with a little stubble on his chin, as if he had been up all night.
Baoyi bowed to him and said goodbye: "With your subordinates here, why should you worry?" She gently pushed Tang Ying forward: "It's intact."
Tang Ying: “…” It turned out that Fu Chen asked Baoyi to take care of her.
After Baoyi rode away on her horse, Xiong Yu led her horse over. Fu Chen said softly, "Go back and have a good sleep first, and come back to the office in the afternoon." He rode away, leaving Tang Ying standing stupidly at the palace gate.
She rode back on horseback, and when she arrived at the gate of Fu's mansion, she bumped into the second prince Yuan Lang who came to visit.
The second prince was in a good mood. Seeing her sleepy appearance on the horse, he smiled and asked, "Where are you from, Miss Zhang?"
Tang Ying got off the horse and saluted him: "I went to the palace to take turns last night and just got off duty."
Yuan Lang was surprised and said, "Young lady, you have just joined the Imperial Cavalry Department. You should have slowly gotten familiar with the duties of the department. Why are you already on duty in the palace after just a few days? I will talk to the Ninth Princess later. How can she be so hasty in hiring people?"
Tang Ying thought to herself: Don't make things difficult for the Ninth Princess anymore, or she will blame me for this later.
"This matter has nothing to do with the princess." Tang Ying explained hurriedly: "I was seconded by the department and I am temporarily working in the Phoenix Department."
"Fu Chen?" The second prince didn't know what he was thinking of. A gloomy look flashed across his face, but soon he smiled as bright as the moon, with a gentle look: "That's right, you are from his house, it's only right that he take care of you more."
