With the Empress Dowager's secret care, Nan Zhiyun's injuries have almost completely healed.
In the depths of winter, Nan Zhiyun stood silently beneath the withered locust tree in the cold palace.
"Miss, you're still injured. Please come inside with me, okay?" Qianxia asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Seeing her mistress like this these past few days had broken her heart. Since her mistress entered the palace as a concubine, she hadn't had a single truly happy day.
"Qianxia, was I wrong?" Nan Zhiyun's eyes were unfocused and lifeless.
"It's not Miss who's wrong, it's His Majesty. His Majesty can't see Miss's true feelings." Qianxia immediately stepped forward to support Nan Zhiyun. Even now that things have come to this, Qianxia didn't feel that there was anything she couldn't say.
To everyone's surprise, Nan Zhiyun shook her head: "It was my mistake. I shouldn't have fallen for him, especially not for an emperor. Qianxia, I'm so tired." Ever since Yu Jingchen banished her to the cold palace, Nan Zhiyun had been like a lost soul, repeating these words every day.
Qianxia was even afraid that one day Nan Zhiyun would choose to just leave like this.
"Miss, please don't scare me, okay? The general will be back in a few days. The Empress Dowager said that once the general returns, she will find a way to let you leave."
"The Empress Dowager also said that if His Majesty is wary of the Nan family, he should hand over the military power after the general returns. The general will take Miss home, and then our family can live a peaceful life and never interfere in royal affairs again." Qianxia said, wiping away her tears.
Nan Zhiyun's eyes flickered slightly. Could the family really live a peaceful and stable life? Nan Zhiyun didn't know, and she didn't dare to think about it.
The next moment, Nan Zhiyun fainted, her face deathly pale. Qianxia cried out in alarm, "Miss!"
When Nan Zhiyun woke up again, the scene before her eyes had changed. This was no longer the Cold Palace, but the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace.
"Yun'er has finally woken up. How are you? Are you still feeling unwell?" The Empress Dowager looked much older, her eyes were red, and her face was full of heartache.
"Your Majesty, how did I get here?" Nan Zhiyun felt that she didn't even have the strength to speak.
"You suddenly fainted in the Cold Palace. Qianxia came to find me, so I had someone bring you here," the Empress Dowager said with a look of pity.
"Your Majesty... has he agreed?" Nan Zhiyun felt excruciating pain all over her body.
"It doesn't matter anymore, Yun'er," the Empress Dowager said, pulling Nan Zhiyun's hand to her face, tears streaming down her face.
"Your Majesty, please don't cry. I'm perfectly fine. Qianxia told me that once Father returns, our family will live a good life together," Nan Zhiyun said with a gentle smile, before reaching out to wipe away the Empress Dowager's tears.
"Yes, yes, when A-Su comes back, we'll be all right, all right," the Empress Dowager's words brought tears to Nan Zhiyun's eyes.
"I won't be the Empress Dowager anymore then. Yun'er and I will go back to the mansion together and find a beautiful place where it's just the two of us," the Empress Dowager said.
“Yes, we’re family,” Nan Zhiyun replied.
Just as the Empress Dowager and Nan Zhiyun were having a good time, a voice from outside broke the tranquility of the room.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Nan Zhiyun and the Empress Dowager both changed their expressions.
Yu Jingchen walked into Cixi Palace with a cold expression, and the servants of Cixi Palace knelt on the ground.
"What brings the Emperor to my humble abode?" the Empress Dowager asked coldly.
"Since the Empress Dowager has taken the criminal woman Nan out of the Cold Palace without my permission, I naturally have to come and see how this criminal woman has bewitched the Empress Dowager." Yu Jingchen glanced coldly at Nan Zhiyun lying on the bed, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
When Nan Zhiyun heard Yu Jingchen repeatedly calling her a "criminal woman," she felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow.
"How dare you! Emperor, do you even respect your mother, me?!" The Empress Dowager was furious.
"Guards, take the criminal woman, Nan, back to the Cold Palace," Yu Jingchen said without changing his expression.
Then someone tried to pull Nan Zhiyun up, but the Empress Dowager stopped them: "Let's see who dares to do that?!"
"Emperor, are you really that cold-blooded? Yun'er just lost your child!" the Empress Dowager roared.
The child… Nan Zhiyun placed her hand on her abdomen, tears welling up in her eyes.
"So what? She murdered the imperial heir before, and now she has lost her child herself, which is what she deserves. Besides, does she even deserve to give birth to an imperial heir?" Yu Jingchen's face remained expressionless.
Nan Zhiyun felt a pang of desolation upon hearing Yu Jingchen's words. She slowly sat up, her eyes vacant as she looked at Yu Jingchen: "Is this how Your Majesty views me?"
Yu Jingchen glanced at her without changing his expression, then said with a strong sense of sarcasm, "Isn't that exactly the kind of person you are?"
"Does Your Majesty truly have no affection for me whatsoever?" Nan Zhiyun asked, tears streaming down her face.
"You think you're worthy?" Yu Jingchen looked at him like he was a fool.
Upon hearing this, Nan Zhiyun laughed, a soft, disheartened sound escaping her throat.
"Your Majesty, so liking someone comes at such a high price? I was wrong, I won't do it again." Nan Zhiyun's voice was very soft, as soft as a breeze that would dissipate.
"Yun'er..." The Empress Dowager's heart broke at the sight of Nan Zhiyun like this.
"Your Majesty, must you be so heartless?" the Empress Dowager questioned.
"Didn't the Empress Dowager already know?" Yu Jingchen remained unmoved.
"Your Majesty, don't forget, if it weren't for the Nan family, you wouldn't be where you are today. Yun'er is the only descendant of the Nan family, and she is A-Su's precious daughter. A-Su will be back soon. Aren't you afraid of breaking the hearts of your old ministers by treating Yun'er like this?" the Empress Dowager roared.
"Is the Empress Dowager threatening me?" Yu Jingchen's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"So what if it is? Anyway, the Emperor has always regarded the Nan family as a thorn in his side." The Empress Dowager simply brought this up directly.
"Let Yun'er stay in Cixi Palace. Once Asu returns, the Nan family will naturally no longer be an eyesore to His Majesty," the Empress Dowager said.
Yu Jingchen remained silent for a long time before finally uttering a single word, "Okay," and then left Cining Palace. His face, however, was so dark it was almost dripping ink.
Seeing this, the Empress Dowager looked at Nan Zhiyun again: "Yun'er, don't be afraid, I will protect you, nothing will happen. Let's just wait for your father to come back, and everything will be fine when he comes back." The Empress Dowager hugged Nan Zhiyun in her arms.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager...is the child really gone?" Nan Zhiyun asked.
Upon hearing her question, the Empress Dowager's tears fell again: "We don't care. It's fine if he doesn't have the child. I will definitely find Yun'er a good man in the future, okay?" The Empress Dowager comforted her, but Nan Zhiyun didn't speak. She just nestled in the Empress Dowager's arms and cried. The entire Cining Palace was shrouded in sadness.
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