Chapter 105 The Palace...

In the spring of the fourth year of Zhenxi, Miss Xu came to Haizhou in Huai'an Prefecture and finally found that family.

It's rainy in Jiangnan at this time of year, making travel difficult, and the journey was half a month later than expected. But at least they found it. Miss Xu's hand holding the umbrella turned slightly white. After a moment's hesitation, she finally knocked on the door, holding her breath and waiting for a response.

Outside, the rain pattered softly, while inside, water was being boiled to make tea. Drips fell from the eaves, and the stove bubbled and gurgled. Xu Shuying smiled gently, yet couldn't help but shed tears: "Back then, I truly believed it was you..."

Su Liancheng turned around, put down a plate of apricot blossom cakes, and handed her a handkerchief: "Back then, I was determined to die, so I drank poisoned wine. When I woke up, I was already in a carriage. I only remember that the person escorting me out of the capital was a lady, who was going south to visit her family with her daughter. Both mother and daughter were skilled in medicine, and they took my pulse along the way and took care of me all the way to Huai'an. In Huai'an, I met Yingniang, the wet nurse from the Eastern Palace, again. I have relied on her to take care of me all these years."

Ying Chunwu, who was sitting in front of the stove watching the fire, turned around upon hearing this: "What do you mean by taking care of me? These past few years, my wife and I have depended on each other for survival. How could I not have received care from my wife?"

Embarrassed to bring up the past, she quickly changed the subject: "Are you from the capital, young lady?"

"yes."

"All is well. There are imperial physicians in the palace, so Madam need not worry."

Ying Chunwu brushed a strand of hair from her temple and said nothing.

Shu Ying rested her chin on her hand and said to Su Lian, "The mother and daughter you mentioned should be the wife and daughter of Physician Feng. Their whole family is skilled in medicine. The one who often serves the Emperor now is his daughter, named Yi Ren. Miss Feng is now a celebrity in the capital. I heard that she was already treating women privately when she was still a young lady. Now that she has gained favor, the women of the capital cheer for her, and even the imperial physicians dare not disobey her."

Su Liancheng smiled slightly: "The Feng family are all good people. I used to worry that I would implicate them. Fortunately, they are all fine now."

"Yes." Ying Chunwu stood up and poured tea for everyone. The steaming hot steam rose and the rich aroma of tea spread. Since there were guests today, she was unusually talkative. She said casually, "I went to the Cui family a few days ago and heard the old lady say that the first female imperial physician of the Great Qi Dynasty had appeared in the capital. Some female doctors have also emerged in our area. It is more convenient for women to see a doctor than before."

"Try this year's new tea."

When Su Liancheng mentioned tea, she couldn't help but think of Yan Chao's poisoning. She looked up and met Shu Ying's eyes, but neither of them brought it up again.

Su Liancheng asked, "You came from the capital, and I completely forgot to ask. How are you? What have you been doing in the capital since you left the palace?"

Ying Chunwu interjected, "Ahu?"

"Yes, you know him?"

Shuying nodded, blew on her tea, and continued, "Then came the border war, His Majesty returned to the palace, the young prince died, and the situation in the court... became even more tense. I had nowhere to go, and at that time, only His Majesty could protect me. His Majesty can't always rely on eunuchs, and Shenniang couldn't handle everything alone, so I often went to help. That's how it happened, and I've been following him ever since."

Su Liancheng sighed, "But in the palace, there are ultimately too many things that are beyond one's control. Especially when one is serving the emperor."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself."

"So what brings you to Huai'an this time?"

“I’m going to Nanjing. I’m stopping in Huai’an on the way to see you…” Shu Ying’s nose started to sting again. Afraid that she would shed tears again, she lowered her head and drank her tea. The fragrant and mellow tea went down her throat, soothing her and calming her mind.

Many past events had become long-buried wounds in their hearts; she neither asked about them nor spoke of them in detail.

Everyone has let go of the past. Although we can't completely forget it, we can put our minds at ease and can't help but look forward to an ending.

She was just a passerby, about to leave soon; this visit might be her last.

On the day Shuying left, the rain had just stopped and the clouds had cleared. Su Liancheng and Ying Chunwu escorted her to the alley entrance.

Shuying stopped, turned around and waved. The two of them, dressed in scarlet and blue respectively, looked exceptionally bright against the white walls and black tiles.

She breathed a long sigh of relief.

Su Liancheng stood quietly until the figure completely disappeared before turning around and slowly walking back.

Ying Chunwu helped her back, looking worried: "If we tell Miss Xu about your illness, perhaps the imperial physician can cure it."

“I know my own body well, why bother? Besides, I heard that things have been quite turbulent in the years since she ascended the throne. If she uses me as leverage again, wouldn’t that just cause her more trouble?”

“I should have died five years ago. I’m very content to have lived these extra years.”

Ying Chunwu brought the medicine and said softly, "His Majesty has let go of what happened back then, but you still can't."

"Did the Crown Prince know about that matter back then?"

Ying Chunwu's heart trembled when she heard that name. She had only ever had that one child in her entire life.

She silently took a stool and sat down in front of the bed, her voice slightly choked with emotion: "She probably had too many reasons to get to that position. I still can't believe that she could become so cold-blooded and ruthless."

Su Liancheng picked up a candied fruit, ate it, but couldn't taste any sweetness. Even her tone was bitter: "In the last few years in the palace, even I didn't trust her anymore. I didn't dare to speak up, nor did I believe her words. Perhaps if we had made things clear to each other earlier, we wouldn't still have so many misunderstandings and regrets after so many years apart."

"That's enough," she sighed softly. "We've both died once, so we shouldn't hold onto the things from our past lives."

She didn't know whether she was comforting herself or Ying Chunwu. But thankfully, she had come to terms with it, and Ying Chunwu felt a sense of relief.

However, only two months after saying this, Su Liancheng fell so ill that she could not get out of bed. This time, she consulted all the male and female doctors, but they all said that there was no cure.

Ying Chunwu was exhausted and, having heeded advice, stopped trying to make things worse, so she stayed by his bedside every day. Summer had arrived, and the various flowers and plants in the yard were thriving and vibrant.

Inside the house, Su Liancheng lay on the bed. With a turn of her head, she could see through the window the neighbor's gardenia tree reaching over the wall. The clusters of snow-white gardenias swayed in the wind. She often gazed at them intently, watching them grow from buds to half-open flowers, and then to full bloom.

The next step will be the decline after reaching its peak.

She felt lonely with the window closed. She knew nothing could stop her, and she felt she was destined to wither away like this.

Ying Chunwu was also looking at those few flowers. She remembered that there used to be gardenias in the backyard of the East Palace. The Crown Prince once picked some flowers to amuse the young prince.

A decade or so ago, in the backyard of the Marquis of Anping's mansion, there were gardenias, I vaguely remember. Ah Hu was just a little kid back then, looking up to reach the low branches, his tiny feet tiptoeing.

"Have the crabapple blossoms faded yet?" Su Liancheng suddenly asked.

“They withered a few months ago, but they will bloom again next year,” Ying Chunwu said. “The lotus flowers are in full bloom right now, and the pond is full of green. I got some lotus seeds last year and wanted to show them to you, but unfortunately I forgot to plant them this year.”

"Try it next year, the flowers you grow are all blooming beautifully." Su Liancheng forced a smile, filled with longing: "The year I was born, the lotus flowers in the lotus pond in the county bloomed exceptionally well, so my father called me Lotus Mother. But since I entered the palace, I haven't had a name."

"I didn't even know when my parents passed away. I don't know what's happening to my siblings. I haven't been able to see them since I left the palace. For the sake of the Empress, for the sake of Chao'er..."

She reached out to touch the distant, blurry flower outside the window; a gust of wind blew, and the petals scattered.

In a hazy dream, it was as if she had returned to decades ago, when she was ordered to go to the capital to be selected as a concubine and bid farewell to her parents.

The carriage sped off, and she clutched her chest tightly, feeling a wave of dizziness before her eyes, finally plunging into an endless abyss.

News of Su Liancheng's death didn't reach the capital until that winter. At that time, the rebellion of the vassal kings had just been quelled, and the emperor had just issued an edict to execute one of the vassal kings. She was under immense pressure from all sides.

Where is she buried?

"Your Majesty, he shall be buried in Haizhou, at the foot of Yushan Mountain."

"Your Majesty, should we bring Lady Ying to the capital?"

The emperor remained silent for a long while, then shook his head and said, "No need. Send the heart to the Cui family in Huai'an and ask them to take good care of it."

On the night of the full moon, the emperor entered the Fengxian Hall alone, knelt on the couch with his head bowed, and did not get up for a long time.

Author's Note: I'll be adding a short bonus chapter temporarily, and will replace it later.