Chapter 54: Past Life (Part 2)

Zen Zhen's face was pale, and he resisted him with his hands in panic, with tears of fear falling from his beautiful eyes.

"Your Majesty, I stumbled into this place by mistake. I didn't know you were here. I hope you will forgive me and let me go..."

Her struggle was undoubtedly like a gnat trying to shake a tree to him. His arms were still tightly wrapped around her slender waist and were not shaken at all.

"It wasn't a mistake," he said, pushing the wet hair behind her ear. His eyes were dark. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

She stopped struggling, but there was despair in her eyes as if she had lost all hope.

"Zenzhen..." He murmured her name, holding her rosy earlobe and rubbing it repeatedly.

"Your Majesty..." She blinked, a tear rolling down her cheeks. "I am a concubine in the mansion of His Highness the Prince of Jin. Do you remember?"

This wasn't the first time she'd said this to him. Perhaps she'd already sensed something was amiss with His Majesty's gaze, prompting her to repeatedly remind him. But this time, His Majesty didn't stop as he had before.

His Majesty released her earlobe and looked at her with deep eyes, and there was a hint of sinisterness between his brows, which made her body tremble uncontrollably.

Zen Zhen was a little afraid of his expression and tried to turn away in panic, but he pinched his chin and turned back forcefully, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"How am I not better than Yun Yi?" There was a hint of obvious unwillingness in his strong tone.

Zen Zhen was just crying, trembling timidly in his hands.

Her frail look made his eyes darker, and he couldn't help but roll his Adam's apple.

"Don't cry." He leaned forward and kissed her eyes. "It's always better for you to follow me than to follow Yun Yi. What do you want? The Nine Concubines are not worthy of you. How about I make you a noble concubine?"

Zen Zhen lowered his eyes silently, and after a long time, a faint voice came.

"I just want to return to your Highness. Your Majesty, don't worry. I will treat what happened today as an accident and won't tell anyone."

His face immediately darkened: "Accident? Do you think that our one-night stand was just an accident?"

"Your Majesty!" She interrupted him, looking at him with tears in her eyes, "Do you really have to force this servant?"

"You are His Majesty, respected by all. What kind of beauty do you want? I am already His Highness the Prince of Jin's concubine, your son's concubine. Why do you insist on forcing me to do something so unethical?"

"Don't I know that what I did violates human ethics and will make the world laugh at me if it gets out?" He gritted his teeth. "It's your fault. You shouldn't have appeared before me. Even though I knew you were Yun Yi's man, I still couldn't forget you. To the point where I was so confused today that I planned to have you come here."

"What do you want me to do?" A hint of helplessness flashed across his eyes, but was quickly replaced by determination. "I can't let go anymore. I want you, right here."

Zen Zhen opened his eyes wide in panic and finally struggled again.

"Let me go!" She pushed his chest hard and lowered her head to avoid his hot lips. "Your Majesty, calm down. You are the sovereign above all others. Don't bear the infamy for a servant."

"I know exactly what I'm doing." He ignored her resistance and lowered his head to kiss her exposed, slender neck. His voice was vague, "Chanzhen, become my woman, and I will give you the highest honor..."

"Your Majesty!" Feeling his hot and wet kiss, her voice was shrill with a hint of despair, "I will hate you."

He paused for a moment, then hugged her with great determination.

"Then hate it." He said breathlessly.

…

"Zenzhen?" A gentle voice woke her from her dream.

Zen Zhen opened his eyes with great difficulty, only to feel his eyes were sore and swollen, and his face was cold.

His Majesty held her in his arms and asked worriedly, "Why are you crying so hard? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zen Zhen stared at his face blankly. His eyes were gentle and filled with concern for him, which was completely different from the sinister and paranoid eyes in his dream.

"Your Majesty..." She called him with a somewhat dry voice.

He touched her face gently: "I am here."

It took Zen a while to calm down, and he buried his head in his arms with some excitement.

"You said before that you wouldn't force me, right?"

How could the man in the dream who forced her against her will be her Majesty?

Chen Dingyao's throat choked, and he almost immediately understood the reason why she broke down and cried in her dream.

He gently stroked her hair and asked softly with a coaxing look, "Chanzhen, tell me what you dreamed about?"

He was really not a good person in his previous life. He had forced her many times, but she didn't know which time Zenzhen was recalling now.

Zen Zhen was in a trance, completely led by him: "Your servant... I dreamed that I was in the hot spring palace, Your Majesty..."

As she spoke, she seemed to have already put herself in the scene of a dream, and she uttered uncontrollably: "I hate you!"

With strong hatred.

Chen Dingyao felt a pain in his heart and his heart almost stopped beating.

It was that time in the hot spring palace. Zen Zhen had actually recalled this place. The memories after that...

He felt like he was being tortured to death. He knew that those painful memories would eventually be revealed, but he could only watch and was powerless to do anything.

"Your Majesty, nothing in this world comes easily. Your obsession is to gain the Empress's true heart. The moment your wish is fulfilled, the price will also follow."

When he was distracted, Chanzhen realized what she had just said to His Majesty. She tugged at his clothes helplessly, her voice full of panic and tears.

"Your Majesty... Yao Lang, I don't know why, but I absolutely do not mean to hate or dislike Your Majesty."

How could she say such words to His Majesty who loved and protected her? It shouldn't be like that. It was just an absurd dream. How could she take the nightmare seriously?

"I know." He sighed and hugged her tightly with heartache, "It's my fault, don't cry anymore, Chanzhen, you're still pregnant."

"Yao Lang," Chan Zhen gradually calmed down under his gentle comfort, "I don't know why, but I've been having strange dreams lately."

He knew the reason for her dream, but his expression remained calm.

"Maybe it's because of the pregnancy. Since these are just ridiculous nightmares, I don't need to think about them anymore after I wake up."

"Yeah." Zen Zhen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and decided to put those nightmares behind him.

Chen Dingyao patted her back gently, "It's not dawn yet, you should sleep a little longer."

Zen Zhen had just woken up from a nightmare and was no longer sleepy.

"I can't sleep."

In fact, she was also worried that she would fall into the dream again after falling asleep.

Chen Dingyao looked at her eyes that were still shining brightly in the middle of the night, feeling both love and pity in his heart.

"Then I coax you?"

Chan Zhen leaned in his arms and asked curiously, "How are you going to coax me, Yao Lang?"

Even her biological mother never coaxed her to sleep.

He touched her slightly hot cheek and asked, "I have told Zen Zhen a story, okay?"

Zenzhen immediately pricked up his ears.

"Once upon a time there was a man who met a girl and fell in love with her at first sight, but the girl was already married..."

Zenzhen frowned, but still listened carefully.

"The man was unwilling to give in, so he used some trickery to force her into marriage. They later had a child, but unfortunately, their good fortune didn't last long. The child died of illness soon after, and the girl also died young from depression..."

Chan Zhen was waiting for the next words, but then His Majesty stopped and asked her, "Chan Zhen, if you were that girl, would you forgive that man?"

His Majesty looked into her eyes intently, waiting for her answer.

Zenzhen opened her mouth, and her mind seemed to be occupied by another force, driving her to answer: "If I were that girl, I would never forgive that man no matter what."

His Majesty looked at her intently, and it took a long time before he managed a smile.

"I see."

Zen Zhen suddenly felt a wave of sadness from him. She couldn't help but reach out and hold him tightly, "Your Majesty..."

She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't say anything.

"Go to bed early." Chen Dingyao quickly calmed down all his emotions, lowered his head and placed a kiss on her brow as if nothing had happened.

Chanzhen was not sleepy at first, but fell asleep unconsciously under the comfort of Your Majesty and stayed asleep until dawn.

The days in the palace were very leisurely and passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already September and the weather was gradually getting cooler.

Although reluctant to leave, the palace was too cold after the summer and was no longer suitable for living. The fetus in Chanzhen's belly had safely passed the most dangerous first three months, so it was time to return to the palace.

Chen Dingyao noticed that she was reluctant to leave and rubbed her head gently: "Next year, we will bring Yuan Zhao with us."

Chanzhen calculated that she should have already finished her confinement by then, so it should be fine.

"We'll have to wait a long time." She touched her abdomen, eager to see Yuan Zhao's appearance.

Seeing that she was obsessed with Yuan Zhao, Chen Dingyao smiled and said, "Zhenzhen, don't forget. There will be a ceremony to crown the queen after we return to the palace."

Chan Zhen had almost forgotten it. She'd been incredibly excited for the first two days after receiving the imperial edict, but she'd gradually realized that life after being crowned empress was no different from her time as a noble concubine. Regardless of her status as a noble concubine, she was the only one in His Majesty's company. His Majesty hadn't previously forbidden her from using many of the amenities reserved for empresses. It felt as if she'd been holding the title of noble concubine since entering the palace, but in reality, she was enjoying the same privileges as an empress.

No wonder the ministers had so much dissatisfaction with her before. She was still shocked when she realized the special feelings His Majesty had towards her.

Zen Zhen leaned into his arms, smelling the familiar sandalwood scent and feeling a sense of peace.

"There's still a lot I don't understand about the ceremony of the coronation."

Chen Dingyao held her in his arms: "You are pregnant. I will order the Ministry of Rites to reduce some of the ceremonies. It won't be too troublesome."

"Yeah." Zen Zhen felt a lot more relieved.

In another remote palace, after receiving the news that she was about to leave for the palace, Concubine De ordered people to pack her luggage, but unexpectedly she suddenly received another decree.

The usually gentle Concubine De could no longer suppress her smile, "What does your Majesty mean?"

Guo Kai said with a hint of sarcasm on his face: "Your Majesty, Empress Defei is not feeling well, so she will not be returning to the palace with you. You can rest assured to stay in the temporary palace to recuperate."

"Your Majesty, have you misunderstood something?" De Fei asked, forcing a smile and clenching her palms. "I am in good health, so why would you feel unwell?"

Guo Kai did not elaborate further, "I have already delivered the decree from your Majesty, so I will not disturb you any further."

After Guo Kai left, the maidservant beside him came up worriedly and said, "Your Majesty, could it be that His Majesty already knows..."

Defei remembered that she was still hoping for a lucky break when she heard that Danzhu was taken away by Prince Jin. Now the emperor's decree clearly ordered her to fend for herself in the palace. Apart from finding out that she was the one who tampered with the lotus pond, she could not think of any other reason.

"I regret this." She closed her eyes and said.

She had been calm and composed all her life, and finally climbed to the position of the Four Concubines, but she was not favored and had never given birth to a child for His Majesty, so she sat on the position of Defei as if she was walking on thin ice.

Therefore, she recommended the maid in the palace to His Majesty, and got a prince as she wished. Although the prince's biological mother was still alive and the prince was not registered under her name, she finally had someone to rely on.

But when the noble concubine entered the palace, she was frightened by the emperor's overwhelming favor and even worried that she would lose what she had worked so hard to gain. So she foolishly sent Danzhu to be with the virtuous concubine. She saw the virtuous concubine fall as she wished, and she became more and more complacent, which led to her repeated mistakes.

The maid comforted her: "Your Majesty, His Majesty may not blame you too much. After all, the Imperial Concubine has not really been hurt, and His Majesty has even reserved the title of Virtuous Concubine for you."

She thought that the Empress' fate was much better than that of the virtuous concubine who was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in the deep palace.

Concubine De glanced at her indifferently and said nothing more.

If her position had really been abolished, perhaps she would have felt somewhat relieved. However, His Majesty had allowed her to stay in the name of recuperation, and I'm afraid that if she really fell ill, even if she died in the palace, it would not seem unusual to outsiders.