Chapter 74 The Emperor Doesn’t Suffer from Gossip
The Western clock ticked past midnight, and the brocade quilt finally returned to peace.
Xiu Yu was still panting a little, nestled in Xuanye's arms, and said, "Is this thank you enough?"
Xuanye combed Xiuyu's long hair with his bony fingers and said with a smile, "What if I say it's not enough?"
"Then I can't give it to you anymore. I've tried my best." Xiu Yu said as she snuggled into Xuanye's arms again.
Xuanye laughed heartily and gently stroked Xiuyu's back: "I really want to stay with you in Changchun Garden and never return to the Forbidden City."
"You want to, and I want to, too, but unfortunately, I can't." Xiu Yu's words were filled with helplessness. "Chinese New Year is coming up in a few days. Can you stay in Changchun Garden during the New Year? Even if you stubbornly refuse to go back, I'm afraid the old ancestor will come here and pull you back by the ears."
"You're exaggerating! I still need the dignity of an emperor." Xuanye pretended to be serious, but his words were actually full of doting. "However, you do have a point. Being an emperor, to put it in a positive way, means holding immense power and the ability to decide life and death. However, there are also many things that are beyond my control. For example, I can't go to your Yikun Palace every day. Only by bringing you out can I be with you every night."
Xiu Yu felt a little tired and sleepy. She gently closed her eyes and said, "Since we're here, Yu'er will stay with the Emperor until the very last moment and not return to the Forbidden City. Is that okay with you?"
"Okay." Xuanye also closed his eyes: "The two of us will stay here until the last moment. We won't go back until our ancestor comes!"
"Go to sleep." Xiu Yu knew that Xuanye was joking, and was too lazy to continue discussing this topic with him, so she fell asleep quickly.
Xuanye smelled the unique fragrance of Xiuyu's hair, and felt comfortable all over, and fell asleep quickly.
On that day, the heavy snow had just stopped. In the Yonghe Palace of the Forbidden City, Wu Yazelan was embroidering a bellyband with her head down, but there was a hint of sadness between her brows.
Su'er, who had been with Wu Yazelan since she entered the palace, brought tea into the warm room and said, "My lady has been embroidering all morning, it's time to take a break."
"It's been a whole morning?" Wu Yazelan finally raised her head, glanced at the Western clock on the sandalwood cabinet, and said with a smile: "It's really been a whole morning."
Su'er brought the teacup to Wu Yazelan's hand and said, "Master, your embroidery skills have always been excellent. You've been embroidering for so long, and you haven't even finished half of this peony. Is there something on your mind?"
"Your Majesty..." Wu Yazelan bit her lip lightly: "Have you gone to inquire?"
"The Emperor has left the palace." Su'er moved the brazier closer to Wu Yazelan. "I went to Chengqian Palace to inquire, and they said that the Emperor had gone out with the one from Yikun Palace."
"Is that so?" Wu Yazelan said lightly and picked up the embroidery needle again.
After all, Su'er had been with Wu Yazelan for a long time, and she always considered her master's interests in everything. "I don't know what kind of extraordinary ability that person in Yikun Palace has to have the emperor bewitched to such an extent. It must not be a serious ability! Maybe she has some pornographic pictures hidden in her palace."
"How dare you." Wu Yazelan glared at Su'er. "The one in Yikun Palace is Concubine Yi. What do you think of that?"
"If a master doesn't respect himself, he naturally can't expect to be respected by his servants." Su'er said as a matter of course: "I just feel that the Queen of Yikun Palace must be someone who doesn't respect herself. Look at her appearance, she looks like someone who will cause trouble in the palace."
"Shut up!" Wu Yazelan growled, "You can say this to anyone, but it must not be said by anyone in our Yonghe Palace. Do you understand?"
"Master, don't worry." Su'er was very confident: "This Yonghe Palace is your place. From the moment you moved in, this place has been an iron bucket. The private words I say to you will definitely not be spread out."
Wu Yazelan shook her head. "Yonghe Palace is not my place. It's the Emperor's place. Every palace in the Forbidden City is the Emperor's place. The Emperor can ask you to move in with just one word, and he can also ask you to move out with just one word. So, even if it's just the two of us, we can't say anything we shouldn't, especially in Yonghe Palace. Do you understand?"
"Master..." Su'er looked at Wu Yazelan with some confusion in her eyes. She used to think that her master was a gentle person without any scheming, but since she moved into Yonghe Palace, it seemed that her master had changed a little.
Wu Yazelan held Su'er's hand and said with a smile, "I know you're only thinking about my own good, but what you're thinking is also what others are thinking. The more favored Concubine Yi becomes, the more the other concubines in the palace will regard Yikun Palace as a thorn in their side. This is obvious. Therefore, there's no need for us to say or do anything about it. Do you understand?"
"Master, I understand." Su'er's lips curled slightly. "Master, don't worry. I'm not stupid. I know exactly who to whisper to about things. From now on, the servants in Yonghe Palace will behave themselves and will never gossip about other concubines. Let others do that."
"My Su'er is really smart." Wu Yazelan took the half-embroidered bellyband in her hand again: "As for the Fourth Prince, raising him in Chengqian Palace also has its advantages. As long as I don't fight or compete with others, and live in peace with the world, there is no need to worry about not having children."
Su'er couldn't help but look at her master with new eyes: "You are right. You are young and favored by the emperor. Our Yonghe Palace will soon be filled with the laughter of the little prince."
The people of Yonghe Palace felt that Concubine Yi of the Yikun Palace was too high-ranking and too favored by the Emperor. Naturally, the servants in the other palaces felt the same way. And it was no wonder they felt that if their master was favored, they would naturally rise to prominence. Conversely, if their master was not favored, the servant's life would naturally be difficult. Consequently, during the time Xuanye and Xiuyu had left the Forbidden City, there was considerable speculation within the harem about the imperial decree issued by the ancestor and the methods used by Concubine Yi of the Yikun Palace to charm the Emperor.
In the Cining Palace, Su Moer accompanied Empress Xiaozhuang in watering the flowers while she said, "Some say that Concubine Yi cast a spell on the Emperor, some say that Concubine Yi learned sorcery outside the Great Wall, and some say that Concubine Yi coaxes the Emperor into performing live sex acts every day. All kinds of rumors have come out while the Emperor and Concubine Yi are away. Look..."
"What am I looking at?" Xiaozhuang glanced at Su Moer and said, "Didn't you say that the emperor is old enough and can handle many things himself? I, as the ancestor, can only water the flowers and take care of the health. I can ignore other things if I can."
"But that's really harsh." Su Moer even spoke up for Xiu Yu: "If they're putting on live sex shows every day, who was responsible for all the important events in the emperor's previous reign? Did the emperor master the art of clones?"
Xiaozhuang was amused by Su Moer. "Come on, these are just nonsense. You can just listen to them. They're not true anyway. Let them be. The Emperor is no longer around. If you don't allow people to complain, they'll get sick. If the Imperial Hospital's envoy comes to kneel in the Cining Palace again, I'll have a headache."
Su Moer knew that what Xiaozhuang said was reasonable, but she still felt sorry for Xiu Yu: "Princess Yu is too pitiful."
"Who made her favored?" Xiaozhuang handed the spray bottle in her hand to the little palace maid: "Since she is favored by Xuanye, she will naturally have to endure some gossip in the harem. She can't have all the good things."
Su Moer had to nod: "Gege, what you said makes sense."
"That makes sense." Empress Xiaozhuang sat down on the couch with Su Moer's help. "Let them be. They're just venting their anger. Don't worry. After what happened before, the harem will be peaceful for a while. As for us, we can tend to the flowers and listen to operas. They are also performing, so we can just watch the show."
"You've truly weathered every hardship and seen through every situation." Su Moer handed the hand warmer the maid had brought to Xiaozhuang. "If the Emperor heard these words, I'm afraid he'd be furious."
"Why did he take Yu'er away from the Forbidden City at this time?" Empress Xiaozhuang knew her grandson all too well. "He knew these rumors would spread in the harem, and he didn't want Yu'er to hear them, so he took her away. But how could he hide? Yu'er must have heard every word she was told."
As Empress Xiaozhuang had said, although Xuanye was in Changchun Garden, he was always aware of what was going on in the palace. Liang Jiugong naturally knew about these insignificant matters, and he passed them on to Xiaotao, who in turn told Xiuyu, so everyone who needed to hear was informed.
"What?" Xiu Yu spat out a mouthful of tea and quickly wiped the tea from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief: "A live pornographic performance every day?" She almost suspected that there was something wrong with her ears.
Xiao Tao nodded: "That's what Liang Jiugong said."
Xiu Yu was speechless. "Don't even mention whether I'm such a person. Is their emperor such a person? A wise and prudent emperor, with a scourge-causing concubine by his side every day? It's amazing that they could think of such a thing and say it out loud."
"There's nothing we can do." Xiao Tao, while certainly defending his master, could also understand the gossip of the servants in the palace. "Before you, no other concubine in the palace had ever been so favored. They had to ask the ancestors for orders and keep you by their side every day. Now, they're afraid you'll be wronged, so they're taking you out of the palace. Speaking of which, if I didn't know you so well, I'd also be wondering if you possess some kind of sorcery."
"As for me, if I know magic, why would I sit here?" Xiu Yu rolled his eyes fiercely: "Really..."
Before Xiu Yu could finish her words, Xuanye walked in. He waved away Liang Jiugong and Xiao Tao, walked up to Xiu Yu, and said, "You look a little gloomy. Did someone offend you?"
Xiu Yu stood up and saluted, then smiled and said, "With you here, who would mess with me? It's broad daylight, shouldn't you be reviewing memorials?"
"I've been wronged, and I'm looking for someone to comfort me." He held Xiu Yu's hand and pulled her to sit on the couch together. "Someone threw mud at me, saying I was acting out pornographic scenes every day. If I didn't, I'd feel like I'd been silenced."
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