Chapter 60: Dream That dream was so real.
Xuanye gently patted Xiu Yu's outstretched hand and said with a smile, "You little devil! My presence here in Kunning Palace has already been a big show. I am a gift to you. Isn't this gift big enough?"
"Tsk..." Xiu Yu was of course a little dissatisfied. "I put a lot of thought into your birthday. Although my gift wasn't worth much compared to other ladies', it was a token of my heart."
"I know." Xuanye held Xiu Yu's hand and said with a smile, "It's getting late. I won't tease you anymore. I'll give you a new telescope. Thomas gave it to me some time ago. I thought you would like it." Just as he said this, Liang Jiugong came in carrying a tray with a telescope on it. After putting the tray on the tea table, he bowed and retreated.
Xuanye pulled Xiuyu over to the tea table and personally lifted the red silk covering the tray. "This is exquisite," he said. "I'm here to congratulate you on your birthday and your official appointment as my Concubine Yi. I haven't had time to ask, but do you like the word 'Yi'?"
As Xiu Yu listened to Xuanye's words, he picked up the telescope and looked carefully. "It's really exquisite, a work of art beyond compare."
"Cough cough!" Xuanye put his left hand behind his back, put his right hand in front of his mouth, and pretended to cough twice.
Xiu Yu reacted, raised the telescope towards Xuan Ye, and said with a smile: "This is indeed a good gift. Yu'er thanks the emperor."
Xuanye raised his hand and touched Xiuyu's nose, then said with a smile, "Reply to me, do you like the word 'Yi'?"
Xiu Yu deliberately frowned and said, "It is said in the Shuowen Jiezi that '宜, where one is at peace'. You chose this character for me because you think it suits me well?"
"Yes." Xuanye stretched out his arms and hugged Xiuyu's slender waist, saying, "I feel very comfortable and at ease when I am with you, so I think this word is very suitable for you. I also hope that you like it."
Xiu Yu moved closer to Xuanye, almost touching his nose and breathing in his ear, and whispered, "I like it very much. Thank you, Your Majesty, Third Brother."
Xuanye laughed out loud. He took the telescope from her hand with his right hand and put it aside. He held Xiuyu's waist tighter with his left arm and said, "It's not enough to just say thank you. I came to you in the middle of the night. To be honest, it's quite cold. Shouldn't you express your gratitude with practical actions?"
Xiu Yu felt her cheeks burning hot. She certainly understood what Xuanye meant, so she simply put her arms around him and said, "Well...whatever you say, that's all."
Under the tent, the spring scenery was beautiful, needless to say. It took a long time before it became quiet.
Outside the warm room, Xiao Tao and Liang Jiugong looked at each other, making faces as if they had seen what their two masters were doing at the moment.
The gossipy little Tao endured for a long time and finally lowered his voice to ask Liang Jiugong: "Brother, how did the emperor escape from Kunning Palace?"
"How dare you!" Liang Jiugong also lowered his voice: "It's the masters' business, not your turn as a servant to gossip. Always remember, be careful..." As he spoke, he pretended that his right hand was a knife and wiped it in front of his neck.
Xiao Tao was certainly not afraid of Liang Jiugong: "Aren't you my brother? If it were someone else, I wouldn't say a word."
"I don't think you dare, little girl." Liang Jiugong was actually quite gossipy. He glanced at Xiao Tao, then back at her, and said, "Well... the Emperor instructed me earlier that if he didn't come out of Kunning Palace by midnight, he was to tell me there was an urgent military report from eight hundred miles away that needed the Emperor's attention."
Xiao Tao laughed and said, "Well... the war isn't urgent these days, is it?"
"You really don't want your head anymore!" Liang Jiugong lowered his voice while scolding Xiao Tao. It was really difficult: "Even the mistress and the empress in the harem are not allowed to discuss the important events of the previous dynasty. What do you know about it?" He bowed in the direction of the warm room and said, "The emperor said there is a military report, so there is a military report."
"I understand, Chief Steward Liang." Xiao Tao really felt that communicating with Liang Jiugong was quite tiring sometimes, but there was nothing he could do about it, as most of the natives were like this.
Liang Jiugong knew he had been too serious earlier, so he controlled his expression and said to Xiao Tao, "But seriously, the Emperor is really good to your master, so good that the concubines in the harem are probably jealous. You, be careful, there are some things that I can't touch."
"There's nothing we can do about it." Xiao Tao certainly understood the twists and turns in the harem, but if she asked herself, if she put all the ladies in the harem together, if she were the current emperor, she would choose her master, and even if she was not the current emperor, she would choose her master.
Liang Jiugong sighed, patted Xiao Tao on the shoulder, and said, "Be careful, don't make any mistakes."
"Thank you." Xiao Tao knew that Liang Jiugong was not just saying these words casually. The harem always seemed calm on the surface, but in fact there were indeed undercurrents.
The clock's hand slowly pointed to III. Xiu Yu lay in bed, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "It hurts! No, no!" she cried out, then suddenly sat up, unable to react for a moment.
Xuanye was naturally awakened by her screams. He stood up, lit the candle himself, and asked, "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"I..." Xiu Yu looked at his still trembling hands and didn't say another word for a long time.
Xuanye brought Xiuyu a cup of warm water, placed it in her hand, put his arm around her shoulders, and asked softly, "What did you dream about? It was so scary."
Xiu Yu looked at the white water in the teacup and whispered, "That dream was so real."
"Can you tell me?" Xuanye's voice was very gentle. "The Queen Mother said that if you tell your nightmare, the dream will not come true."
Xiu Yu looked into Xuanye's eyes and bit her lips gently.
"Don't want to talk about it?"
Xiu Yu shook her head. "I dreamed a cat pounced on me. Then, for some reason, I ended up lying on the bed again. My stomach was aching, and there was a pool of blood on the bed..."
Xuanye listened and felt a tightness in his heart. He didn't need to ask anymore what Xiu Yu had dreamed about.
He held Xiu Yu in his arms, tightly grasped her shoulders, kissed her forehead again and again, and comforted her: "Everything in the dream is fake. Maybe you saw something during the day, but you didn't pay attention to it, so it appeared in your dream at night. Now that you have said it, what happened in the dream will definitely not happen again."
"Hmm..." Xiu Yu responded in a low voice, but her blood still ran cold. She had never had such a real dream, so real that it seemed like it really happened to her.
"Go to sleep." Xuanye helped Xiuyu lie down slowly, patting her back again and again: "I will protect you, and those bad things will not come to you. You will definitely be able to sleep well in the second half of the night."
Xuanye's words seemed to be true words of wisdom. Xiu Yu fell asleep again under Xuanye's comfort, and this time she really didn't dream again.
The next morning, when Xiu Yu woke up, Xuanye was sleeping beside her.
Xiu Yu shook Xuanye gently and said, "You should get up. Don't you want to practice?"
"I'm sleepy. I don't want to practice anymore." Xuanye turned over and took Xiuyu into his arms again: "I just fell asleep less than a quarter of an hour. Let me doze off for a while, otherwise I won't have the energy to attend the court meeting."
Xiu Yu knew that it was her nightmare that kept Xuanye awake for half the night. She felt a little sorry: "Well... while you sleep, I'll go make you something to eat."
Xuanye responded and knew that Xiuyu had woken up from the nightmare last night, so he let her get out of bed and slept for a while himself.
This time, it was not the Western clock that woke Xuanye up, but the aroma of the food that Xiu Yu brought in.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest at night. Yu'er put a lot of thought into this breakfast tonight." Seeing that Xuanye had sat up, Xiu Yu put the food on the table and went to wash Xuanye's handkerchief.
Xuanye took a moment to calm down before getting out of bed and walking over to Xiuyu. "You scared me to death last night. I've been in the palace for so long, and this is the first time I've had a nightmare like that."
Xiu Yu handed the washed handkerchief to Xuanye and said with a smile: "Dreams are just dreams. I have forgotten them."
"Wow!" Xuanye said as he wiped his face, "Not bad, not bad. You forget things so quickly. It's hard for me to stay by your side for half the night and not dare to sleep."
Xiu Yu bowed and said, "You've got dark circles under your eyes because of your tiredness. It's really Yu'er's fault. I apologize."
Xuanye threw the handkerchief away, held Xiuyu's hand, sat down beside the table, and said, "Relax, I won't allow anyone to bully you. I promise you."
"Let's have breakfast first." Xiu Yu avoided Xuanye's gaze and poured him a bowl of milk tea. "Try it and see if it tastes better: the milk tea made by Nanny Su or the one made by me?"
Xuanye didn't answer, but frowned and said, "You don't believe me?"
"How dare I." Xiu Yu picked up another piece of cake for Xuanye: "It's just that you are really busy. There are a lot of things waiting for you to do in the former court. You can handle Yu'er's affairs yourself."
Xuanye touched his chopsticks with his right hand but didn't pick them up. He looked out the window and said, "I feel a little sad that you don't trust me and don't rely on me."
Xiu Yu was a bit overwhelmed. Could it be that the Emperor really hadn't rested well? Was his mind still spinning? Was that why he was so stubborn? "I just wanted you to think I wasn't someone who was spoiled and arrogant. Besides, there's really nothing that needs your attention."
After hearing what Xiu Yu said, Xuanye said nothing more. He picked up the chopsticks and silently ate the buns made by Xiu Yu.
This time it was Xiu Yu's turn to feel uncomfortable: "Do you expect me to say something bad about so-and-so in front of you?" She simply said: "If I really did, wouldn't you think I was stirring up trouble again?"
Xuanye said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because I understand you that I know you would not make random accusations against others."
"But I can't embarrass you." Xiu Yu gently held Xuanye's hand: "Because we understand each other, we know each other, so we won't say anything that shouldn't be said."
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