The Empress knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and smiled: "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."
The snow fell heavier and heavier. The palace was utterly silent, save for the distinct crackling sound of the charcoal brazier.
He tapped the wine vessel lightly against the table, and after a long pause, he slowly spoke: "I have given you everything. In return, you should obey my word."
yes.
In my tomb, there will be no precious artifacts or treasures, only puppets. In particular, there is a puppet dressed in plain clothes. He paused for a moment and said he wanted to place it in the coffin, in the place closest to me.
After a long silence, he thought she wouldn't agree, but she softly said "yes" again.
He smiled very gently and reached out as if to stroke her head. But then, as if remembering something, he closed his eyes and finally gave up.
Although you may have forgotten what I said to you on our wedding day, I haven't forgotten it.
Outside, snow was falling heavily, and inside the palace, all voices were silent.
Before long, the crackling sounds in the charcoal brazier gradually subsided, and the last spark flickered and eventually went out quietly.
The Empress knelt for an unknown amount of time, until her legs were numb with cold. Finally, she let out a sob, raised her tear-streaked face, and cried out to Emperor Huan: "I want to be with you forever, to grow old together! But Your Majesty, your heart is not with me now!"
Where has your heart gone?
Clang. A very faint, almost imperceptible sound.
That was the sound of a poisoned needle, which Emperor Huan ultimately couldn't bear to pierce into flesh, falling to the ground.
Nine
In the 29th year of the Meiwa era, his father passed away in the early spring of that year.
Not wanting to see those faces that were clearly overjoyed but pretended to be grieving, he secretly sneaked into his father's tomb, hoping to lean against his father's coffin and sleep peacefully for one night.
Unexpectedly, there was already someone in the tomb, and it turned out to be --
The Prime Minister's only daughter.
He knew her. Her temperament was strikingly similar to her father's; flamboyant, she usually only wore the brightest colors, but now, because of the national mourning, she was finally dressed in white mourning clothes. He didn't know how she got into the tomb, but she quietly said to him before his father's coffin: "Your Highness, you shouldn't have hidden here."
Because of the Prime Minister, he disliked her at all and showed her no courtesy whatsoever: "And you? You shouldn't have come here either."
But she raised an eyebrow and smiled brightly: I'll come and take you back.
As they were talking, the tomb door, which had been open, suddenly slammed shut for some unknown reason. He and she couldn't escape in time and were trapped inside. He kicked the tomb door hard, cursing her under his breath as a jinx.
She wasn't alarmed; instead, she comforted him: "I told my father I was coming here to find you. If we don't go back, he'll bring people over."
He ignored her, sat down against the tomb door, hugged his knees, buried his head in his knees, and closed his eyes to sleep.
In the silence, he suddenly heard her humming a tune beside him. The melody was strange, like a folk tune, but not quite. He looked up, and she smiled knowingly at his confusion: "I just sang it offhand." Indeed, to get your attention, he still had to rely on singing and dancing.
He turned his head away and continued to ignore her.
She laughed even more heartily, leaned closer little by little, tugged at his sleeve, and coaxed him to turn his head.
He was stubborn, but she persisted in speaking softly and persistently. Gradually, he started talking to her too, and eventually, she fell into a deep sleep leaning against him, without him pushing her away.
In the desolate, forgotten tomb, he and she slept side by side. When she awoke, he had already silently gazed at her sleeping face for a long time.
She blushed slightly, which was unusual for her: Hasn't my father arrived yet?
"It's better that you didn't come," he said. "Otherwise, if you come looking for me now, one day after you leave, you and your father will come and kill me."
She stared at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly laughed. With a flick of her wrist, she handed him something: "Father said you were no ordinary person, and he did indeed send me to kill you. But now I'm giving you this poisoned needle. If one day I must kill you, you can use it to drag me to hell with you."
Before he could react, she turned her head away, as if to him, or perhaps to herself: I like someone, and I want to be with him forever.
His face flushed crimson, and he dared not answer. He carefully put away the poisoned needle, thinking he would never need it. He memorized the tune she sang casually, filling his heart with his thoughts in his mother's native Su Bai dialect. He remembered her clean, simple appearance, and treasured her smile alone.
He was young then and unaware of how fickle people's hearts could be. He believed that he and she could truly be together forever, growing old together.
The Silent Emperor (by Su Yu)
one
Ye Ling's harem is filled with beauties of all kinds of personalities.
Some were blessed with natural advantages, some were cunning and calculating, some were playful and cute, some were clever and quick-witted, and some even took a different approach by feigning indifference. But when they faced Ye Ling, their eyes were filled with a burning yet controlled enthusiasm.
Only Liyang was an exception.
That day, he sat high on the throne, with his concubines gathered below. He glanced over casually and caught sight of a warm and lively gaze coming from a corner. Ye Ling was only stunned for a moment before she calmly looked away.
He spoke in his usual lazy and indifferent tone, but only he knew that his ten fingers, hidden beneath his loose robe, were trembling. Together with his heartbeat, which had been suddenly disrupted, this signified a long-awaited reunion filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow.
two
Li Yang's marriage to Ye Ling as a concubine was not smooth.
When she was sixteen, the imperial court was selecting a concubine from among the princes and generals. Li Yang took it upon herself to submit her birth date and time to the palace, but was ruthlessly rejected afterward, with the only explanation being that she was not suitable.
Li Yang stayed in his room, feeling dejected for many days, when good news came from his cousin. It was said that the emperor had personally selected his cousin, Shu You, to enter the palace. The entire family was overjoyed, but Li Yang alone stared wide-eyed, his heart filled with resentment.
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