Chapter 57 Chapter 57 [VIP]
Shen Youyi's smile faded. She gestured for Tan Rui to take out a gold hairpin from the box and said, "I don't want to ask His Majesty how he will treat me. I just want to know if there's anything special going on in Qingping Palace these days since I haven't been accompanying him."
She did not take the emperor's occasional long-term cold treatment to heart. She had not seen him for half a year before, and this was only ten days or so.
The eunuch looked at the golden hairpin with hesitation. It was not because the golden hairpin had exceeded his expectations, but because the imperial concubine had done many extraordinary things, but the emperor had not hurt her at all.
If I don't give her face now, in the future...
He whispered, "There are indeed two matters concerning Madam. One is that the Right General of the Jinwu Guards was ordered to travel far away and sent a letter back from Luzhou, claiming that Madam's biological parents had been found and that he would be returning to the capital soon. However, I was present at the time, and Majesty didn't even smile."
The eunuch paused, a little surprised. His Majesty had never told the Royal Concubine about this matter. Even after Chief Steward Chen sensed something was wrong, he did not dare to reveal the matter to His Majesty first, but only hinted that the Royal Concubine could be more open-minded.
But the Imperial Concubine's expression was perfectly normal, as if she wasn't surprised at all. He continued, "It was only a matter of the past few days. Although His Majesty was displeased, he didn't say anything. I thought it was all over. Unexpectedly, this afternoon, after the Internal Security Department delivered a secret letter, His Majesty immediately mobilized the Imperial Guards to take over the Eastern Palace's Ten Commandery to protect the Crown Prince and the women of the Eastern Palace. Your Highness is now waiting in... the Hall of Eternal Life."
The Hall of Eternal Life was far from the other palaces and uninhabited. It was high above the ground, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Upon hearing this, the Imperial Concubine chuckled softly and jokingly tried to appease him, "I was thinking, if it really was the Hall of Peace, there would be no need for a chariot."
Her face suddenly relaxed. "Then I'd better dress up properly. His Majesty has summoned me to sleep with him. I can't just go there unkempt, right?"
The maid brought gorgeous robes, but Shen Youyi only picked a plain white dress. After a simple make-up, she sat in Cheng'en's carriage.
Outside the Changsheng Palace, the imperial guards were standing around, more than twice as many as usual, with swords and spears pressing in. Shen Youyi stopped after getting off the sedan chair, but the eunuchs in front of the emperor were already waiting for her.
She took a deep breath and said softly, "Please lead the way for me."
There was a faint smell of blood in the hall, which destroyed the light fragrance of chalcedony. She looked blankly at the prince who looked astonished, and actually smiled.
I don't feel much disappointed anymore.
She knew he would deny and refute their past, but the performance was indeed realistic.
She had her period just a few days ago. Her father would choose her, so why did she act like this?
"Your Majesty didn't summon me here tonight to sleep with you, so why is Your Highness here too?"
Shen Youyi smiled slightly: "Serving both father and son at the same time, isn't this a bit bad?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo looked at her coldly and said slowly, "It seems you have already remembered it a long time ago."
She accepted everything before he even opened his mouth.
Shen Youyi nodded hesitantly and said softly: “Your Majesty finally knows.”
The Crown Prince originally thought that Concubine Wei would come to defend herself, and he was almost shocked beyond words: "Concubine Wei...how could you!"
The evidence is right in front of us: how he favored his concubine and neglected his wife, how he stole someone else's wife, and even put a curse on Yi Niang. But why are these things so vague and have not left a deep and unforgettable memory?
Shen Youyi gave him a strange look: "Your Highness can do it on the first day, but I can't do it on the fifteenth?"
She thought that if she couldn't give birth, no one would be able to take the crown prince's position. If she accepted it, she would only die. If he didn't accept it, it would cause Emperor Yuan Shuo to be even more disgusted.
Emperor Yuan Shuo recalled the confessions his inner guards had obtained from several of his wives and said with a smile, "Yi Niang, your mother taught you to swim when you were very young, right?"
A hero saves a beauty, love at first sight, her storybook was used on her lover's father, and it became a dance at a banquet... It was still love at first sight, but it always works.
Shen Youyi didn’t swim that well, but when she said the resolute words, it added two points of difficulty: “That’s because I like the prince, and I deliberately wanted to get close to him.”
She had a vague feeling that once she said this, there would be no turning back.
But she still spoke.
The heavy inkstone fell under her skirt with a deafening sound, and the ink splashed on her white dress, staining the beauty as beautiful as ice and snow.
Even the Crown Prince subconsciously wanted to block her, but she was able to speak calmly: "Your Majesty has seen through it, why be angry? I will answer anything you ask... After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very afraid of you, you can't get anything out of him."
What was the emperor's meager family punishment against the crown prince? She had seen far harsher punishments in prison. She said, "My name has long been struck off the record of good conduct. Surviving to this day is already a special favor from heaven. Everything you've given me is certainly cherished, but my husband loves me so much. How can I ever completely forget him?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo looked at her quietly. The beautiful woman who once spoke sweet words and had forgotten all her past was only thinking about her former husband in her heart.
That man was just so good... so good that he could outweigh everything between them. He looked at his son, who was lying on the ground, unable to stand up, and said calmly, "Take the prince away and imprison him in a side hall."
They acted silently, and even though the person on the ground was the crown prince, they did not dare to show any mercy, and soon, there was only lichen on the ground.
There were only two of them left in the hall.
Emperor Yuan Shuo almost wanted to walk over, but in the end he just stood there.
When Feng Xianguang was looking for her parents, he saw some clues, but
The noble concubine was saved by the prince when she was young, and even the good record was the prince's work. However, there was some confusion in the management of the Yunting Bureau, and I submitted a petition to apologize. If Your Majesty insists on a detailed investigation, it will take some time.
It doesn’t matter whether Feng Xianguang knows it or not... His breath seemed to carry the ashes of a raging fire burning his internal organs, and Emperor Yuan Shuo leaned forward slightly.
The prince took such a big risk for her, he should have guessed long ago that her virginity was not given to his husband, but... his eldest son.
However, even though he was furious at that time, he still wanted to listen to her explanation!
Unlike the concubine that Prince Zhao's father took away from his son, she was willing to serve in the palace, but she was too timid to tell him about the past. It was not until the inner guards arrested the Duke of Yan and his son that he learned that at the ordinary banquet that day, he, a good son, was actually planning to remarry Yi Niang into the East Palace!
Emperor Yuan Shuo spoke softly, his voice trembling with vicissitudes and bitterness: "If you like the Crown Prince, why did you enter the palace? Did you toast the wrong wine?"
Aren't the two men she loves already at her feet? Even if she loses her husband, she can return to the prince's arms.
If she could wait another twenty or thirty years, the prince would be eager to give her the position of queen.
Shen Youyi shook her head. She and Xiao Che were not the same kind of people. It was because he sympathized with her and felt sorry for her being kept in the dark that she developed feelings for him by accident and let him down.
When she looked at Emperor Yuan Shuo again, her eyes were filled with tears: "Your Majesty, you are joking. After my husband died, my heart was withered. I didn't want to marry again. Even if it was a green lamp and an ancient Buddha, it would not matter."
Her expression was icy, her nails practically breaking in her palms as she tried to hold back her tears. "But I thought about it, why? Just because I wanted to rise up the social ladder, Your Highness's mother disliked me, and my family was doomed. The Marquis of Lingyang pitied and respected me, but when he married me, he was lured away to a mountain forest shrouded in miasma, his body left utterly untold. Now I'm my enemy's concubine, wanting a legitimate status, but I dare not let Aye and the others know I'm still alive!"
But now, his relationship with his father has been toyed with by an ant that can be easily crushed to death. The father and son have become estranged. How can they continue to be a loving father and a filial son in the future?
His son can use a Gu on a woman today to win her heart. When faced with greater temptation in the future, won’t he use a magic trick to win over the emperor?
Among those who depended on "Noble Concubine Wei", their wives, children, and daughters-in-law, there was a concubine who watched coldly as she was captured by the Wei army and laughed at her, but those people still tried to hold her skirt to satisfy their own selfish desires.
At this moment, the most important thing to do was to stay away from the enraged lion. However, she took a few steps forward, picked up the fallen sword and put it back where it belonged, saying softly, "I hate the Crown Prince... and I hate Your Majesty even more."
With his palms pressed against the table, veins already bulging, Emperor Yuan Shuo could barely hold on. He practically gnashed his teeth and said, "I love you so much, I give you all my love, and yet I've ended up having an enemy by my side?"
He didn't care whether the prince was willing to speak or not, as long as he had solid evidence, he could convict her. But he still wanted to hear her excuses, even if it was just a lie, as long as she was willing to put in the effort.
She refused to bear his child. Although he was angry, he finally compromised. She didn't want him to ask about the past, and he really stopped asking. He even knew that she missed her parents, and he wanted to cultivate her father and brothers, give them generous rewards, and cure her amnesia.
He regarded her as a delicate beauty who could be blown away by the wind, so he protected her, cherished her, and tacitly allowed her to interact with foreign ministers and her mother's family, hoping to make her the queen and sleep with her in the same bed a hundred years later.
If she could give birth to a smart prince, he would have enough time and patience, and even be willing...
However, the woman he loved so much actually resented him deeply.
She smiled softly and stood in front of him. Her frowning brows and tearful eyes, which usually appeared to be begging for his love, were particularly glaring today.
"Because the prince has Cui's blood flowing in his veins, your majesty, the King of Zhao... are all the same."
She stared at him straight, as if looking into his heart: "You are the Son of Heaven, you always have so many things to do. We beautiful women are far inferior to the princes and nobles of the same clan. You felt that you were worthy of them by vindicating my father, giving Xiao Lang posthumous honors, and establishing an heir to carry on his family line. But would you kill your own flesh and blood for me?"
His first queen was instigated by someone and poisoned by jealousy because of the concubine's pregnancy. She died silently. But the prince was jealous of their love and poisoned her as well. He would also give the East Palace a cup of poisoned wine!
As long as the world does not change its master, the emperor will not allow this position to fall into the hands of his nephews or brothers. Everyone in the world has selfish desires, and the king is not more upright just because he stands in a high position.
Emperor Yuan Shuo's peaceful face finally cracked into a ferocious expression, and he couldn't suppress the anger and disappointment in his words: "So, Yi Niang, you want me to fall into a situation where my father and son are having an affair!"
He doted on a woman who was at odds with the prince, and even thought that if by some chance he died young, the prince would always respect her as his elder!
Why didn't she take a knife and stab him in the chest at night? Maybe that would make him feel better!
"Humans are naturally divided into different classes. I've already been humiliated and humiliated, a sinner who has brought misfortune upon my parents and husband. Why can't Your Majesty be made as ridiculous as I am?"
She stubbornly stared at the supreme man before her, resisting the urge to look away. "From the beginning, I just thought that the Crown Prince could use his power as heir to take me back. But if that man is his biological father, does he dare to covet the emperor's forbidden lover?"
But people always want to reach for what they can't have. She didn't deny her ambition, her body trembling slightly. "But Your Majesty is so good to me, so good that I want to live and have so many wishful thoughts. I not only want you to know these disgusting things and die miserably, but I also want everything from you to him... Why should I put my hope in you to do justice?"
She swallowed the bitterness in her heart. Actually, it was not entirely true. She could have guided him step by step to the truth when they were in the private room every night, but in the end she became hesitant... and felt a little uneasy.
Even if she can't get those, she hopes to put aside her worries for a short time and steal some unexpected time.
A happier time than she had ever experienced since she became a wife.
But to her surprise, even after forgetting all those unbearable things, she did not get much real joy.
She was tormented by not knowing the truth and distressed by her shameful desire for joy.
Emperor Yuan Shuo looked in the direction of her hand that was stroking her waist and abdomen. It was still flat, without any sign of bulge.
Even if we calculate based on the first time, it will be at most two months.
But she just had her period a few days ago.
She was filled with resentment. How could the child she longed for be born to such a pair of parents?
This was originally a very good thing. This matter could be handled quickly and without being too difficult. However, Emperor Yuan Shuo actually felt a little disappointed.
There are certain rules to follow when being a husband and wife, but falling in love between a man and a woman is as unreasonable as being a bandit.
He fell in love with a woman who deceived him and abandoned all the criteria for choosing a wife. He didn't care what kind of family she came from, nor did he care about her past entanglements, nor did he think about whether her purpose in clinging to him was just to get a high branch.
As long as she could cure the strange disease in her body and devote herself wholeheartedly to the emperor, even if she really had something with his son... it would not be her fault.
He knew the first time he saw her that he was so attracted to her. Perhaps she would never know, nor would she want to know, until his heart stopped beating and the granite in front of the mausoleum was eroded by time.
But He Luxing swore that the poison the prince used on her would not cause her to lose her memory for many years. When he visited the palace and wanted to reconcile with her, he rushed to visit her in Yaoguang Palace at night. She was not moved at all, and perhaps she was even very proud of herself and had already planned her next deception.
And this lie was not out of love, and this was what disappointed him the most.
He tossed and turned for several days and had originally decided not to pursue the matter any further, but he was worried that he had wrongly accused her. After much hesitation, he decided to instruct the internal security to continue the investigation.
But now it seems that there is no need at all.
They had been sleeping in the same bed for over a year, but it felt like he was meeting her for the first time.
She is just that kind of person, and he is reluctant to let her go, preferring not to see through her hypocrisy and falsehood.
"You're right. I can have physical affection with any woman, but blood ties can never be severed."
Emperor Yuan Shuo looked at her trembling appearance with cold eyes. He had seen many people and animals at the end of their rope. They already knew their fate and could only bare their teeth at people in the end. She was a woman, and even if she pulled out a hairpin to stab him, what could 7 do?
But if she really wanted to assassinate him, at this moment, he didn't even want to dodge.
The sound of the emperor clapping his hands was heard from the hall, and several familiar figures quickly appeared in front of Shen Youyi. They were all eunuchs who were favored by the emperor.
Emperor Yuan Shuo glanced at her slowly, then half turned away and said, "Take her away."
She should have known what would be the outcome of her actions when she did such a thing to deceive the emperor. She got what she wanted.
Shen Youyi had seen the scars on the prince's body, and she thought that even if Emperor Yuan Shuo killed her with a sword in anger, it would not be surprising.
However, this did not affect her outcome at all, although the eunuch in front of the emperor still gave her a little final dignity.
The place where she was imprisoned was in a pavilion in the middle of a lake, far away from the pavilions and palaces. Inside, there were all kinds of furnishings, like a secluded residence. If it weren't for the imperial guards patrolling outside the window, it could be called a paradise.
Without the restraints of shackles, she lay quietly on the pillow scented with Sihe incense. Her heart seemed empty, unable to contain any emotions. The emperor might still be struggling with how she should die, whether to fall into the lake or commit suicide. But whether that would damage his wisdom was none of her business.
After she happily entered the palace at the age of fifteen, she felt like a spinning top being whipped. Even if she wanted to stop and take a breath, she couldn't do it.
Her blood and heart were swelling and boiling, then suddenly calmed down, and she felt a little tired that she wasn't used to.
The destiny is not on her side, but she wants to get close to it and get it like crazy. If she listens to her brother, she will still be worried in her boudoir tonight and wonder how to have fun the next day.
She thought that many people might come into her dreams tonight, but no, it seemed that before even a few drops of candle wax had rolled down, she fell asleep.
Poor scholars often get up late, and getting up late will ruin their family. In the palace, unless there is special permission or on night duty, few people will sleep until noon.
Shen Youyi got up at 3:30 am. Without the help of a maid, she carefully combed every strand of her hair, tied it into a simple and neat bun in front of the mirror, and pinned it with two hairpins.
Someone outside must have been watching her movements. When she finished dressing, a soldier came in and brought her a sumptuous breakfast.
These meals were just ordinary on the table in Yaoguang Palace, but they were excellent for a dying person.
Because of this beauty, even the prince's East Palace and all his other residences and outer houses were raided. Not only did the guards mock her, they didn't even dare to linger on her.
She only took a few bites and then put down her bowl and chopsticks.
There were a few drops of crystal tears mixed in the pearl rice. Maybe even if she had thought about dying calmly, people had no appetite before dying. She usually tried to control her appetite as much as possible in order to maintain a light body. After sleeping for three or four hours, she didn't feel hungry at all, and even felt a little nauseous and wanted to vomit.
The eunuch who read out the decree was Zhao Yuelai. There was no common poisoned wine, white silk or dagger for people to choose from. Emperor Yuan Shuo only stingily rewarded her with a bottle of wine.
Compared to the other stewards, he still had a bit of childishness. After filling the glass with wine, he couldn't help but ask, "Madam Wei... Madam Shen, do you have anything else to say to His Majesty?"
Shen Youyi smiled slightly. At this moment, she felt relieved: "If you have something to tell His Majesty, can I not drink this wine?"
Zhao Yuelai struggled slightly. Of course, there was a difference, but his godfather had told him to drink the wine. He said politely, "This servant cannot make the decision, but His Majesty is furious right now. If my lady can..."
Before she finished her words, the imperial concubine reached out and drank the wine in one gulp.
Shen Youyi didn't want to embarrass him. If she didn't drink, these people would have to use other methods to achieve their will. The spiciness of the wine made her cough a few times and said softly, "I thought about it, and the other words are not important. Your Majesty is a wise ruler. He should not be angry with my family for my sins. Of course, he wants to do this. What can I, a dying person, do? But the eunuchs and palace servants nowadays are different from before. They don't know about my affairs. Mocking the emperor is a capital offense, and I don't feel safe letting them get involved."
There was a look of anticipation in Zhao Yuelai's eyes, but the imperial concubine closed her eyes and waited quietly for the poison to take effect.
Not until the peerless beauty collapsed to the ground did several strong eunuchs carry her to the mat and cover her whole body with white silk.
Zhao Yuelai sighed softly, clapped his hands three times, and ordered the people on the other side to paddle the boat to bring the prince over. "His Majesty has decreed that the concubine's body be burned after her death. Your Highness is asked to take a look and wake her up."
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