Chapter 26: Big Trouble
The next day, near dusk, the setting sun was as red as a cinnabar and the afterglow was beautiful.
The palace road was deep and long, with a rustling sound of the wind. Yang Manyan, accompanied by Xingyun Dangui, came to the Imperial Garden.
The hazy sunset glowed on her cloak with pomegranate flowers and gilded crane pattern, which was glittering and seemed to coat her whole body with a layer of light.
The night in late autumn is the time when the night-blooming cereus blooms, but at this time, this peacock night-blooming cereus, like a rare treasure, is still tightly closed.
Before leaving the Eastern Palace, Yang Manyan specially ordered people to go to Qingning Palace to deliver a message to Concubine Wei Shu, but after waiting in the garden for half an hour and the night slowly falling, there was still no sign of Concubine Wei Shu.
Seeing that the night-blooming cereus was about to bloom, Yang Manyan became anxious, "Who was sent to Qingning Palace to deliver the message just now? Did something go wrong?"
Dan Gui hurriedly replied, "The one sent was Xiao Chengzi, he is the one in charge of running errands and delivering messages in the East Palace, he has never made any mistakes, I don't know what happened."
She smiled again and said, "I am a fast maid, why don't you let me go to Qingning Palace again?"
"Okay, go quickly and don't delay." Yang Manyan nodded.
Dangui immediately ran out with the lantern in her hand.
The waxing moon gradually climbed up the sky and the sky became completely dark. Only Yang Manyan and his servant Xingyun were left in the huge imperial garden.
Because the harem was empty, the emperor had ordered the eunuchs to leave the palace many times. Now there were few eunuchs in the palace, and there was a curfew, so every night the entire palace was empty and no one was around.
What happened here half a year ago kept emerging in Yang Manyan's mind. His heart was beating like a drum, and he had an inexplicable bad premonition.
Xingyun held up the lantern and said jokingly, "I just told you to bring more people out, but you didn't listen. Now, it's you and I who are left here alone. It's quite scary."
Xingyun is a few years older than Yang Manyan. She was bought into the Yang family at the age of ten to help take care of the two girls. They have an extraordinary relationship with each other. Now when they are alone in private, they have no scruples when talking to each other.
Yang Manyan pursed her lips. She had originally thought that since the prince had gone out to provide disaster relief in person, it would be a shame for her to go to the Imperial Garden to enjoy the view in a high-profile manner, so as not to attract criticism. However, she never expected this.
A few more quarters of an hour later, the night-blooming cereus began to spread its petals and was showing signs of blooming. However, not to mention Concubine Wei Shu, even Dangui, who went to deliver the message, was nowhere to be seen.
There was silence all around, save for the rustling sound of the north wind blowing through the treetops.
Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps not far away. Yang Manyan and Xingyun looked at each other and turned around hurriedly to look.
Seeing this, her pupils suddenly shrank and her whole body turned cold.
In the chilly night wind, the emperor, dressed in a dark suit and with his hair tied up with a golden crown, stood with his hands behind his back. His deep and tough face was hidden in the cold moonlight, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry.
There were no palace maids or eunuchs accompanying him, and he was all alone, just like the night half a year ago that had frightened Yang Manyan.
Xingyun was the first to react and hurriedly pulled Yang Manyan to bow together.
The emperor looked around, his aura stern and fierce in the thick night, and asked, "Why are you two here alone?"
Yang Manyan swallowed his saliva slightly and replied in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, I originally made an appointment with the Concubine Shu to watch the night-blooming cereus here tonight, but I don't know why the Concubine Shu hasn't come for a long time..."
The emperor suddenly became gloomy. Because of some things that happened in the past, he did not have a good impression of Wei.
At this moment, the peacock night-blooming cereus suddenly bloomed, its white petals graceful and sparkling with gentle light in the moonlight.
For a moment, Yang Manyan even forgot his fear and just stared blankly at this rare beauty, his eyes wide open in amazement.
Seeing her like this, the emperor frowned impatiently, but a subtle change occurred somewhere in his heart, which he himself did not even notice.
He had originally wanted to take advantage of the prince's absence from the capital to completely eliminate Yang, the major threat between him and his son, but today she came to him on her own initiative.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly ordered in a deep voice: "I have something important to say to Yang Shangyi, you leave first."
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