Chapter 78: Seeking Good (New Added at the End) “If I insist on breaking the hairpin…

It was too late to prepare a sedan chair now, and it would inevitably involve a lot of trouble. Qing Zan said, "Let's go, it will be faster."

Ruizhu Palace was ablaze with lights, and filled with distinguished guests. Every concubine who had sent gifts to the princess felt a sense of unease, wondering if they would be implicated and implicated. Consequently, most dared not remain indifferent.

Qingzan found Concubine Hui among the concubines who were either whispering to each other or eagerly waiting, and walked up to her: "How is Lingxi?"

Concubine Hui had been scowling, but upon seeing her, she forced herself to cheer up. "Your Majesty is staying with me inside. The imperial physician said the symptoms resemble allergies. We need to take a closer look to see what's going on."

With so many people coming today, it's impossible to leave them all outside, so Concubine Hui stayed in the main hall to take charge of the situation. Now she was waiting for news from the imperial physician with everyone else.

Qingzan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that although Concubine Hui had tears on her face, since she was no longer constantly by the princess's side, she assumed the princess's life was safe.

But since she came, the whispers in the room seemed to have become much louder.

Fortunately, after this experience, whether it is the favor or the contempt, it seems to be less important.

Concubine Hui frowned upon hearing this, and pointed at a few people not far away. "Go tell them it's late. If they're not worried about the princess and just came to watch the fun, please send them back. Tell them I'm too busy today and can't entertain them well enough."

Concubine Zhao came over, covering her mouth with her hands and laughing, "Cousin! Let them talk. Our Concubine Ying dared to offend even His Majesty. She has seen all kinds of storms and waves. How could she be afraid of a few criticisms?"

Qing Zan smiled slightly and said, "Your Excellency is right. Right now, the princess is the most important thing. Nothing else matters."

Although Concubine Hui had always been angry at her incompetence, she had often indulged her cousin, believing it was okay for her to suffer some injustice. But now, at this critical moment, she only knew how to come and cause trouble, and her concern for Lingxi was even inferior to that of others. Concubine Hui was furious and said, "Stop, Guang, and you too. If you don't want to stay, go back first."

Concubine Zhao stamped her feet, looked at Concubine Hui and Qingzan hatefully, and stood aside with her arms folded.

After a while, the emperor and the imperial physician came out together. The princess was frail, so the female doctor and the wet nurse were staying by her side to take care of her. The less contact the rest of the people had with the princess, the better.

The emperor's throat tightened the moment he saw Qingzan. He wanted to call for help, but he was afraid that she would no longer be willing to come to him as before, so he restrained himself and looked away from her.

The imperial physician recounted the exact results he had given the emperor to Concubine Hui: "The princess is allergic to pollen, but it's not serious, and the fever has subsided. However, the princess is still too young, so the dosage of the decoction needs to be strictly controlled. I will carefully discuss the prescription with my colleagues after I return."

Concubine Hui never thought it was a pollen allergy. She thought to herself, "All of the princess's personal belongings, even the furnishings in her room, are from Ruizhu Palace and have been inspected by the female doctors. I've also ordered the princess's wet nurses not to wear rouge or powder, and to search them before approaching. How could there be pollen here?"

As it is cold this day, the windows in the palace are rarely opened on weekdays. Besides, at this time of year, all the flowers are withering, so how could there be any pollen floating in?

The emperor knew that she was always cautious in her actions, and he felt that something was fishy. He asked the palace servants in Huifei's palace, "Who has been to Ruizhu Palace today?"

The palace maid replied, "The Ming Concubine Shu came, and no one else was there. But the Concubine Shu came at noon, and the princess had no problems all day."

The relationship between Ming Shufei and Huifei is now delicate. Could it be that in order to suppress Huifei, Shufei secretly poisoned the princess?

The emperor did not say anything. He sat at the highest seat in the hall, tapping his knees with his fingertips, as if he was lost in thought.

At this time, another palace servant spoke tremblingly: "And Concubine Zhao...! Concubine Zhao often comes to visit the princess."

Concubine Zhao was still in the palace at the time. Upon hearing this, she immediately became furious and rushed forward to grab the palace servant's arm, shouting and killing him: "You dog slave! What does this have to do with me? The princess is now raised in the name of my cousin, how can I harm her?"

Concubine Hui's anger was rising. She sternly stopped him, saying, "Don't act rashly in front of His Majesty. The palace maids were just responding as usual. Why are you making things difficult for them?"

Concubine Zhao looked at the emperor with fear, then stopped and stood back in her original position in a sullen manner.

The emperor's eyes grew colder, and no one could tell what he was thinking at this moment. Was he suspecting Concubine Ming Shu of being unscrupulous? Or was he planning to criticize Concubine Hui for being incompetent?

The emperor only ordered Concubine Hui to investigate the matter thoroughly: "No matter who it is, or whether it was an accident, once the facts are revealed, there will be no leniency."

Concubine Hui responded, saying His Majesty had no intention of punishing her for failing to care for the princess, only that they were fortunate to have the thief apprehended. Yet, she couldn't find the heart to rejoice, feeling that she couldn't even protect such a small child. Despite her vigilance, she still had numerous loopholes.

After seeing the emperor off, Xu Delu was still pondering where to start when he returned to the palace and said to Concubine Hui, "Your Majesty has asked me to give you a clue... Princess Lingxi's clothes have the scent of plum blossoms."

After Xu Delu finished delivering his message, he took his leave again, but he did not follow the emperor immediately.

His Majesty refused to let him follow.

*

Qingzan left with the crowd. After leaving Ruizhu Palace, everyone went east and west, and north and south. The voices that were so noisy just now became sparse, but some people were moving slowly and had not left far... His Majesty had not gone far either.

They looked back frequently, but saw the emperor standing at the palace gate. His dark clothes blended into the cold night, and he seemed aloof and unapproachable.

Even those who wanted to comfort the emperor in the name of the princess and take the opportunity to make the emperor remember them were afraid to move forward.

However, the emperor turned a blind eye to those who were lurking and ready to make a move, both near and far.

Always staring in one direction, the longer you stare, the more silent you become.

It would be nice if I could just keep looking at her.

After an unknown amount of time, her figure finally became blurry because she was too far away. He suddenly panicked and stepped out decisively, calling her loudly: "Qingzan."

Qingzan didn't look back.

The palace concubines who witnessed this scene suddenly realized that the reason why His Majesty and Concubine Ying had been unhappy for so long was that Concubine Ying had always refused to be kind to His Majesty?

It turns out that between the two of them, it was Concubine Ying who had always neglected the other!

Qingzan did not fail to hear his call.

But if I really don't want to go the same way as him, I can only pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Sometimes she would think that rather than hating him, she despised her own insignificance more, just like a thin snowflake in the heavy snow that was like salt being sprinkled. After all her efforts, it was only attached to the carved beams and painted buildings.

If there is no equality, how can there be fairness? Once those who rely on power no longer rely on it, they will completely lose their power.

It's snowing again.

Fortunately, when she went out, she saw that the weather was not right, with no stars and no moon, so Doukou prepared an umbrella in advance.

Qingzan watched as white spots slowly piled up on the ground, first a few spots, and then became a whole.

The rustling sound echoed again and again in the snow.

She finally couldn't help but turned around and scolded, "How long are you going to follow me?"

Xiao Fang knew that she was aware of his existence.

As long as she turned around, she could see him at any time, but she never did.

He laughed helplessly and said bluntly: "Wait until you get back safely."

Qing Zan curled the corners of her lips and said in a sparse voice: "I won't get lost."

Xiao Fang didn't say anything else. He put his hands behind his back, neither retreating nor approaching.

Qingzan thought that if he had come to visit Chengluan at night today, he would probably have been turned away once. He always prided himself on his intelligence and would never insist on asking for trouble.

He turned around and walked forward.

But the emperor still followed her.

The palace road suddenly seemed endless. Qingzan took great pains to finally see the familiar palace walls and palaces, and she couldn't help but quicken her pace.

As she was about to step through the gate, the emperor quickened his pace to catch up with her. Even though his steps were long and fierce, he only caught her just in time before the palace servant closed the door. He said to the figure inside:

"Won't you get lost?"

"Why do I feel like I'm about to lose you?"

Beside the door, a pile of snow on the branches was too heavy, and it fell down sadly and hit the ground. At this moment, the door closed, and the last ray of light from Chengluan Palace disappeared completely, and there was no echo in the silence.

Xiao Fang frowned deeply and stood there until the snow stopped and dawn broke.

*

The twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month is the emperor’s birthday, and the whole world celebrates.

Qingzan was woken up by the palace maids early in the morning. Normally, everyone wanted her to sleep a little longer, but Qingzan knew that they would not call her if there was nothing important.

It turned out that after the innocent case, everyone in the palace knew that the deposed queen had a habit of treating her servants harshly and bullying her master. Later, the witchcraft case broke out, and they hated the deposed queen and the Yongning Marquisate behind her even more.

As soon as the news reached the palace today, everyone rushed to share it with the master—

The eldest son of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion had been missing for many days. A few days ago, he was recognized while begging on the street. He was ragged and unrecognizable. A few passers-by who were dissatisfied with his condition wanted to send him home, but he resisted strongly, shouting that the debt collectors would find him, chop off his hands, and take his life.

Finally, a girl from Yihonglou came out and took him back.

The madam of Yihonglou kept telling the crowd about her daughter's kindness, hoping to attract more customers: "You don't know, this Mr. Duan was not good at that, so he just loved torturing people. He used candles and scissors on our daughter! He lost money gambling and wanted to blame it on our daughter, and even asked his former lovers in various other buildings to pay for him. Isn't that ridiculous? It's only because our Qi'er is kind that she was willing to take him back and give him a bite to eat!"

The madam didn't elaborate on how she would treat him beyond giving him a bite of food, and walked away with a charming smile. In short, the girls had a lot of resentment to vent, and this was also the retribution for the evil deeds this enemy had done in the past.

As a result, the stories of Young Master Duan's drinking, gambling, whoring, rape, and robbery spread far and wide, and with some taint of romance, the news spread even faster throughout the country. At first, it was just gossip, but later, someone followed the clues and discovered that Young Master Duan had once raped a woman and even killed her.

The grandfather embezzled the people's money, the eldest daughter practiced witchcraft to harm others, and the eldest son was such a lewd and ugly person. Many patriots criticized the Yongning Marquis Mansion for being crooked from top to bottom, and there must be a lot of secrets behind it. Some even believed that such a family was not like a loyal and meritorious official who would save the emperor.

Someone in the court took the opportunity to suggest that the late emperor's will should be cited and Duan should be executed according to the law. The case of witchcraft could not be resolved simply by deposing the queen. The late emperor had issued an edict, stating that although the title of Marquis of Yongning was conferred by him personally, he could not escape punishment if he caused harm to the people.

Some people wondered why they had never heard of this decree, but they simply thought it was because they were ignorant.

Some people also submitted memorials requesting a thorough investigation into the Duan and Zhu families.

Qingzan listened to the maids talking one after another about the matter. She felt mixed emotions and was a little stunned for a moment. Her heart was pounding.

Suo Ying understood her master's sorrow and resentment best, so she held Qing Zan's hand and said, "The Yongning Marquis's Mansion has been completely ruined this time."

Qingzan was stunned and didn't respond.

The palace servants simply thought that their master had no idea that the Marquis's Mansion had so many heinous crimes, and that he was either too surprised or too happy.

Qingzan dismissed all the palace servants and suddenly began searching the room. That paper ball... the whole story of how the Yongning Marquis's residence was being uncovered was exactly the same as what she had written on the paper that day!

Originally, he wanted to send a letter to Chen Shaoling, but when he thought that he was also constrained in every way like himself, and was afraid that he could not really confront the emperor, he crumpled up the written plan and threw it away.

However, no matter how hard she looked today, she couldn't find it. She wondered if the palace maids had taken it away, or... maybe... the emperor climbed in through the window that night and picked it up while she was sleeping?

But this matter has fermented to this day, which is definitely not the work of a few days. The emperor's layout must have started long ago.

What is this! His compensation, his concession?

*

In the afternoon, Xun Huan came again with a large bunch of red plum blossoms to look for Qingzan. She had been coming every day for the past few days, and Qingzan had dispensed with the palace maids' instructions, letting her come directly into the house to find him.

"The people from the Shangyi Bureau have already been here. I will be taking up my new position tomorrow." Xun Huan placed the whole bunch of red plums by the window. "Do you have a nice-looking vase? If I want to store the red plums, a copper vase or white porcelain would be the best."

Qingzan said congratulations, walked over, looked at Hong'e leaning against the wall, her graceful figure reflected on the window silk, and fiddled with it twice with her hand. She couldn't help but think of Concubine Hui's recent investigation into the comings and goings of Hongmei Garden and Baixue Garden, which was probably related to the princess's affairs.

"You should also be careful not to let anyone throw dirty water on your head."

Xun Huan didn't take it seriously and just said, "What does it have to do with me? It's not my first day at Hongmei Garden! I want to see who dares to slander the Sixth Lady!"

Qingzan suddenly remembered that Xun Huan had also pinned a plum blossom to her temples when she first entered Chengluan Palace. So she asked, "Did you see anyone in the garden when you went to pick plum blossoms these past few times?"

The fragrance of wintersweet is strong and bold, while the fragrance of red plum is subtle. Since Concubine Hui did not notice it at the first time, it is probably the red plum.

"Yes," Xun Huan stuck out his tongue and smiled ambiguously, "Brother Emperor asked me the same question. I said I saw Concubine Zhao, but she is Concubine Hui's cousin, so she looks innocent no matter how you look at her."

Qing Zan pinned the word "innocent" to her, her eyes darkening, "Not necessarily."

Didn’t Concubine Zhao always hope that Concubine Hui could become the queen?

Xun Huan opened the window and looked at the sky outside: "It's almost time, don't worry about others, come with me and help me take a look--"

Qing Zan was dragged out by her in confusion: "What are you looking at?"

As they passed the corridor in front of the palace, Doukou Suoying and several palace maids shouted, "Young lady, please let go of my master! What if he falls?"

Xun Huan just smiled and said, "Even if you fall, I'll be there to cushion your back!"

Qingzan almost thought that Xun Huan wanted to use this as an excuse to take her to attend today's palace banquet, but she didn't expect that she actually took her to Baoyuyou Pavilion.

I haven't been back here for a long time, and my mood is hard to recover.

She instinctively wanted to turn around and leave, but Xun Huan held her hand tightly. Seeing that he couldn't pull her away and afraid that she would fall, he pushed her forward from behind.

She was also trying hard: "I'm going to Liushang tomorrow, and you won't even give me a hand to check whether my clothes and jewelry are suitable for me?"

Qing Zan pointed out her with amusement: "If there is a mistake in the clothes I sent to you, it will be the fault of your future colleagues. What are you afraid of?"

And at this moment, he was finally pushed to the door.

A huge and beautiful red silk flower fell from the door beam and hung above her eyes. Several palace maids lit the red candles in the hall together, allowing people to have a panoramic view at a glance. Inside the Baoyuyou Pavilion, red silk was decorated everywhere and wedding characters were posted.

There was even a circle of red candles with phoenix patterns on the ground. No wonder she felt dazzled when she looked through the window from outside just now.

The carpets and window curtains were also replaced with red with gold embroidery. On the long table were fruit plates such as dates and longans, as well as gold and silver wine vessels. It was perfect and beautiful, suitable for any room.

Xun Huan said, "Now you know why he let me live here? Others actually envy me. How can this not be infuriating!"

These days she has been living in a small warm room in Baoyuyou Pavilion, and has to help the emperor with the arrangements. He only appointed her as a music assistant, and she feels that she is at a loss!

Qingzan finally understood why Xun Huan had made such a big fuss the day he moved into Chengluan Palace. Although there weren't many boxes and crates, they were filled with candlesticks and utensils, so moving them was naturally laborious.

In the candlelight, the emperor turned around when he heard the voice and extended his hand to her without hesitation: "Celebrate my birthday with me?"

This is not a birthday at all.

Qingzan turned around and wanted to leave, but found that Xun Huan had already retreated with the palace maids and closed the door.

With no way out, she had no choice but to face it. She remembered what the palace maid had said to her and asked the emperor vaguely, "Did you take anything from me when you came that day?"

She spoke cryptically, but Xiao Fang knew exactly what she was referring to. He raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Is it for Chen Shaoling? The most easily angered and infuriated people in the world, and the most prone to verbal attacks and criticism, are scholars. You're right. Since it's like hitting a rock with an egg, why not stir up public anger and fight against the powerful? But, you think he'll help you? If you really give it to him, I'm afraid he'll just turn around and give it to me."

He approached her and lowered his voice: "No man in the world can be trusted."

"Except for me. Since I can coincide with your thoughts, am I still a bit admirable?"

"The hairpin has been broken, and the broken mirror cannot be mended." Qingzan was unmoved, but stood there stiffly, holding her breath, not knowing whether to sigh or not, with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, there is no need to do this."

She had no right to blame Chen Shaoling. He had already helped her a lot, and like her, he had his own limitations. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given up on this method before she even started.

Xiao Fang looked at her without blinking. "The old house can be destroyed and rebuilt, but what if I insist on breaking the hairpin to make it whole, and the broken mirror to make it whole? This is the most unparalleled hairpin in the world, and the most unique mirror in the world. From you on, there will be no one else. Are you unwilling to do that?"

"I was wrong in the past, but even I can't do everything I want. You have to give me some time."

For the first time, the emperor told her the past events he knew. "I'm not trying to defend myself, but at that time, there were Quanrong spies living in seclusion in the capital. Your father was wounded in battle and then ambushed. He took refuge in an alley in Shaoyinfang. He was seriously injured, his life hanging by a thread, and he was unconscious, with the Quanrong chasing him. If your mother hadn't rescued him and taken him to the clinic, and if the Duan family hadn't recognized his identity and sent him back to the Eastern Palace, and the palace hadn't spent a fortune on fine medicine, your father might not have survived. Your father and I have treated the Duan family well over the years, promising them fifteen years of wealth and prosperity. This is our repayment of their kindness."

It is a pity that another person who truly did a favor had to be buried in the dust for fifteen years and his soul returned to the earth.

Qingzan suppressed the gleam in her eyes.

"I only learned about your mother's story not long ago." Xiao Fang, seeing that his heart was touched again, immediately shut up and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore."

If the mountain doesn't come to you, you will go to the mountain. He walked closer and closer until their shoes were touching, and they looked at each other closely: "Guess what wish I made for my birthday this year?"

Qing Zan lowered her head and said, "Your Majesty's wishes are heard by the gods and Buddhas. Why should I guess?"

Xiao Fang: "I don't need the gods or Buddhas to listen, I just want you to listen."

"My wish is to start over with you."

As an emperor, he had never felt so anxious and worried: "I asked you that day if you wanted to be the queen, but you never answered."

"Now I ask you again, are you willing to be my wife?"