Perhaps because she was still afraid and guilty, Nan Zhiyun didn't dare to say a word.
“Your muteness is intermittent,” Yu Jingchen suddenly remarked.
Nan Zhiyun didn't immediately grasp the meaning of those words.
"Sometimes you dare to say anything, and sometimes you don't even reply to a word. What's wrong with you? Should I find you a famous doctor to take a look? After all, the imperial physicians in the palace probably can't cure you. There are so many, but none of them have cured you." Yu Jingchen really didn't hold back his words.
"You keep saying you're wrong, so tell me exactly where you went wrong?" Yu Jingchen asked.
"It was my fault for not knowing the proper etiquette. I shouldn't have stayed in Cining Palace and disturbed Her Majesty the Empress Dowager," Nan Zhiyun said frankly.
But Yu Jingchen's face darkened immediately.
"That's all you know?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
“This concubine… is guilty of disobeying His Majesty’s will,” Nan Zhiyun replied after thinking for a moment.
Yu Jingchen didn't speak, he just stared at Nan Zhiyun. Nan Zhiyun felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and her unease gradually grew.
After a while, Yu Jingchen said to her again, "I didn't expect you to think this yourself. You should reflect on yourself these next two days." He didn't want to continue talking to Nan Zhiyun, afraid that he would be so angry that he would die.
Nan Zhiyun was somewhat at a loss.
Yu Jingchen didn't stay there any longer. After he left, rumors about Nan Zhiyun and the Empress Dowager quickly spread throughout the palace. They said she had fallen out with His Majesty and was now imprisoned.
The Empress Dowager's actions this morning had already stirred up discontent among many in the harem. Now, naturally, there will be no shortage of people taking advantage of her misfortune.
Cixi Palace
"Your Majesty, the news about you, Consort Nan, and His Majesty has spread throughout the palace," An Xin said.
The Empress Dowager kept her eyes closed and showed no sign of tension. An Xin waited silently beside her.
"Anxin..." the Empress Dowager suddenly called out.
Empress Dowager An Xin agreed.
"Do you think Yun'er will blame me for doing this?" An Xin asked.
“Your Majesty, you are only doing this for Consort Nan’s own good,” An Xin comforted her.
"I also want to protect her for the rest of my life, but I am getting old and I don't know how much longer I can stay with her. She is simple-minded and a little timid, and I am afraid." The Empress Dowager let An Xin help her stand up.
"Your Majesty, Consort Nan will understand your good intentions." An Xin felt sorry for the Empress Dowager, but also for Nan Zhiyun.
"If I could, I would like to stay with her and protect her for the rest of my life... but there are some things that I cannot control," the Empress Dowager said in a distant tone.
"Your Majesty, children and grandchildren have their own blessings." An Xin grew up alongside the Empress Dowager, having been by her side since childhood, and naturally knew how difficult the Empress Dowager's journey had been.
When the Empress Dowager adopted the Emperor, she was genuinely happy and always treated him as her own son. She always put the Emperor first and did everything herself. Although she was sometimes strict, she knew that the Empress Dowager loved the Emperor—the kind of love a mother has for her child.
But... as the emperor grew older, he became increasingly distant from the Empress Dowager. Due to the machinations of others, the emperor harbored hostility towards the Nan family and towards the Empress Dowager... The Empress Dowager, too, was repeatedly heartbroken because of the emperor.
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