Chapter 84 Consensus
In the plum forest behind the East Palace, the last thin bit of sunset light was swallowed up by the lead-gray clouds.
The stone path in the courtyard, where the snow had not yet melted, was freezing cold.
The candlelight reflected on the window paper of the study and the warm room, but it could not dispel the inexplicable chill that lingered in my heart.
Luo Zhaohan sat in an armchair a little away from the charcoal brazier, unconsciously holding the slightly cold teacup in his hands.
The warmth of the fingertips seemed to have been taken away by the seemingly casual visit of Prince Rui and his wife just now.
She looked at Pei Ji who was sitting quietly opposite her. The Dali Temple Shaoqing's brows had not been relaxed since a while ago.
"They...are not here for such a trivial matter as the little prince breaking things while playing." Luo Zhaohan's voice was not loud, but it was unusually clear in the quiet library.
She put down the teacup, ran her fingertips across the cold wall of the cup, and looked at Pei Ji calmly, "It's not that His Royal Highness Prince Rui came to visit on a whim."
Pei Ji raised his eyes to look at her, his deep, sharp eyes now gleaming with a cautious coldness: "What do you mean, Miss Luo?"
He also had deep doubts about Prince Rui's sudden visit to the Eastern Palace today.
Luo Zhaohan took a deep breath, as if to absorb the biting coldness he had felt when he saw Concubine Li during the day into his lungs: "This afternoon, Concubine Li summoned me. At that time..."
She paused, recalling that seemingly accidental moment, "His Majesty is here too."
Pei Ji's eyes suddenly fixed.
The emperor personally visited Concubine Li?
"The emperor casually mentioned that the flower viewing banquet at the palace a few days ago was quite lively."
Luo Zhaohan's voice was very soft, almost emotionless, but it made Pei Ji's heart suddenly tighten.
Flower viewing banquet.
That was a dangerous situation that Prince Rui used to test the Crown Princess's bottom line. Its danger was no less than licking blood on the tip of a knife.
"The expression on Concubine Li's face at that time," Luo Zhaohan closed his eyes slightly, as if he saw again the moment of fear that instantly drained away the blood from Concubine Li's well-maintained face, and the stiff expression that forced herself to remain calm, as clear as before his eyes.
"The shock and panic on her face couldn't be hidden. Even though it was only a moment, I saw it clearly."
The library was dead silent, as if the cold wind outside the window had frozen.
Luo Zhaohan opened his eyes, his eyes as bright as ink, and looked straight at Pei Ji: "Master Pei. What does this mean?"
Pei Ji's breathing barely registered a pause. An answer was about to emerge.
Luo Zhaohan didn't wait for his answer, unravelling the mystery in a steady voice, "This means that His Royal Highness Prince Rui never, or could never, proactively inform his mother about the flower viewing banquet. He concealed it. Why?"
"Because that night's flower viewing banquet, from beginning to end, was all about spying on, testing, and even framing Her Royal Highness." Her voice turned harsh, revealing the venomous sting beneath the lavish banquet. "That night, His Highness's greatest fear was Her Royal Highness. His actions, his words, his pressure... His Royal Highness Prince Rui would never allow anything to destabilize the Eastern Palace or threaten the Crown Princess's position. Especially since this matter involves his unhealthy obsession with and control over the Crown Princess."
Pei Ji's hands, which were placed on his knees, clenched their knuckles instantly, making a slight cracking sound.
This is exactly what he and the Crown Princess worry about most.
Luo Zhaohan's voice held a hint of cold insight. "Prince Rui's actions are deeply entangled. They concern his delusions about the Crown Princess, the Eastern Palace, and even the foundation of his own schemes. If Concubine Li knew her son had taken such a risky tactic for a woman, perhaps even arousing the suspicion of His Majesty, what would she do, given her desire to control Prince Rui and protect her own position? Would she sit idly by? Or would she strike first?"
The last question fell lightly, but it hit the air with a heavy weight.
There was a storm in Pei Ji's eyes.
He had heard of Concubine Li's methods. If that scheming woman, who had held a high position in the harem for decades, knew that her son had taken such an extreme action in order to covet the Crown Princess, she would definitely take drastic action.
Luo Zhaohan slowly made his final deduction, "So, when Concubine Li suddenly learned of this matter today, even though His Majesty had inadvertently pointed it out, she must have been filled with shock and suspicion. She must immediately know how much the Crown Princess knew about what happened that night? How much insight did she have into Prince Rui's thoughts? Was His Majesty himself aware of it? These questions gnawed at her like a venomous snake, leaving her unable to find peace for a moment."
Her gaze was like a sharp, icy blade. "How could His Royal Highness Prince Rui dare to face the Crown Princess again at this moment? He's afraid of revealing any clues. So, who can replace his most beloved mother and visit the Eastern Palace, chat with her, and quietly inquire about this critical news?"
The answer is self-evident.
"Prince Rui and his wife's visit today was definitely not Prince Rui's original intention. He must be extremely worried right now."
Luo Zhaohan's voice was firm and decisive. "The real driving force behind this trip was Concubine Li's anxiety to resolve her inner worries and gain control of the situation. Princess Rui was merely her spy. Her purpose was to help Concubine Li understand the Crown Princess's true intentions. To find out her attitude towards the flower viewing banquet and her understanding of Prince Rui's intentions."
"Pa." Pei Ji slammed his palm heavily on the small table beside him. The force was so great that the lid of the teacup clanged.
His usually calm and composed face was covered with an unprecedented frost. Rage and even deeper fear surged violently in his eyes.
He understood. Really, he understood everything.
This is not a small fight. This is not a simple test.
Behind the seemingly gentle, concerned eyes of Princess Rui lie the sharp, scrutinizing gaze of Concubine Li. Not only does the Crown Princess face the sinister schemes of Prince Jin and the sickening covetousness of Prince Rui, but even Concubine Li, a highly respected figure in the harem, bares her fangs of suspicion.
She was trapped in a huge whirlpool where every step was dangerous and she would be crushed to pieces if she was not careful.
These layers of overlapping and interconnected murderous intentions are more impenetrable and suffocating than expected.
Thinking of this, Pei Ji felt a chill spreading from deep within his bones, and his clenched fists trembled slightly.
He can guard the palace gates and maintain the palace ban, but how can he resist the malice that comes from the deepest blood relationship?
The library was dead silent for a moment, with only the occasional soft sound coming from the charcoal brazier.
The heavy and stagnant atmosphere makes it hard to breathe.
In the silence, Luo Zhaohan's gaze inadvertently drifted out the window - in the front courtyard of the East Palace, the little prince was being led by his wet nurse, holding an exquisite windmill in his hand, trotting against the cold evening wind, and the windmill was spinning.
The small figure is carefree, appearing particularly thin and bright in the empty courtyard on a cold winter day.
In an instant, Luo Zhaohan's heart seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand and suddenly tightened.
Grandson of the emperor.
The two words hit my heart hard, like a huge rock dropped into a cold deep pool.
The heavy and sad fragments of memories from the previous life were suddenly torn apart by the vivid and innocent scene before my eyes.
She clearly remembered that unforgettable moment - not long after this moment, it was the depths of winter with severe snow and wind.
In the twelfth month of that year, a sudden serious illness seized the Crown Princess like a demon.
The medicine in the palace was ineffective and the imperial physician was helpless.
Thoughts rushed into the desperate snow like a runaway horse.
She seemed to see the dying magnificent palace again.
The air was thick with the scent of medicine and a heavy, dead air. On the brocade-covered phoenix couch, the woman who had once been so graceful and elegant, embodying all the dignity of the Western Wei Crown Princess, was now emaciated, her face as pale as gold paper, her breath as weak as a candle in the wind.
And then...
She remembered it vaguely, or rather, felt it deeply.
Where did the dying mother put all her energy? On her child, who was still playing with the windmill carefree at that moment.
It was tied to her only child who was still young and ignorant.
During the last few days and nights of his death, his eyes, which had gradually lost their luster, would stare towards the palace gate whenever he regained consciousness for a moment.
I long to see that tiny figure, even just for a moment.
When the child was brought to the bed by the wet nurse, he ignorantly stretched out his little hands and tried to touch his mother's cold and skinny cheek.
Deep within Luo Zhaohan's soul, he seemed to hear the mother's wail. How heartbreaking it was.
Those dry eyes were instantly filled with unspeakable pain, reluctance, deep sorrow, and endless, deep concern. She tried her best, her cracked lips trembling, trying to make a sound.
The voice must have been hoarse and broken, so weak that it was almost swallowed up by the sound of wind and snow outside the hall, but she must have used up her last bit of strength to explain something to her child.
Maybe it was a brief reminder, maybe it was an unspeakable last wish, maybe it was instructions on how to survive in this cold and cannibalistic palace.
Over and over again. Earnestly.
Even though the breath is intermittent, I persevere.
Until he lost the strength to even tremble his lips, only those sunken eyes, still carrying endless reluctance and heavy trust, clung to the confused and ignorant child, as if he wanted to brand the frail little person into the depths of his soul that was about to dissipate.
The heavy, boundless worry and heart-wrenching pain that belonged to a mother at the moment of life and death, separated by the fog of time and space between two lives, still burned Luo Zhaohan's soul like a red-hot iron.
My eyes suddenly felt sore.
An indescribable sadness and empathetic grief instantly overwhelmed the composure Luo Zhaohan had tried so hard to maintain.
The outline of the plum forest before her suddenly became blurred, and the dim candlelight on the window paper twisted into a hazy yellow spot. Crystal tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
She could only purse her lips tightly and forcefully suppress the tears that were about to burst out.
For the emperor's grandson who was innocently caught in the whirlpool and was about to lose his mother, and even more for the crown princess who was still unaware that her end was approaching, struggling to survive amidst heavy murderous intent, with only her child in her heart.
Pei Ji's mind, originally immersed in overwhelming rage and deep worry, was suddenly pulled back by the extremely subtle but suddenly strong scent of sadness beside him.
He was shocked to find that Luo Zhaohan was acting strangely - she tilted her head slightly upward stubbornly, biting her lower lip tightly, her fine eyelashes trembling constantly, and her eyes were already covered with a layer of broken, heart-throbbing light.
That gaze was empty and distant, as if it penetrated the palaces and courtyards before it and fell on a place of great sadness and great heaviness. The deep sadness and suppressed grief were like a huge rock, smashing hard into Pei Ji's heart.
He instantly realized what was on her mind, and his throat was suddenly blocked. A heavy feeling of suffocation suddenly appeared in the surging rage.
The two looked at each other silently as the night wind began to rise outside the window.
The candlelight in the library flickered gently, casting flickering light and shadow between the two of them.
Those exposed conspiracies and calculations, those suddenly clear hidden arrows and open attacks, those suspicions about Concubine Li, and the plots of Prince Rui... still weighed heavily on my heart like a cold leaden cloud, and could not be shaken off.
However, after the detailed analysis just now, especially the heavy and suffocating past life review—
The consensus between the two has never been so clear.
The opponent's thoughts and movements are no longer completely hidden in the thick fog.
The Eastern Palace, especially the position where the Crown Princess and the young grandson of the emperor were located, was already treacherous and dangerous, and now it seemed even more shocking.
Pei Ji took a deep breath, suppressing the surging effects of the medicine. Time waited for no one, so he had to finish his words quickly.
"The drug's effects have been accumulating for too long. I was planning to hold it back," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "But then I changed my mind and decided to show it in front of Prince Rui and the Emperor's grandson."
"Just when the attack was about to happen, the Crown Princess sent Princess Rui out, and I had no choice but to leave."
"The Imperial Garden is ablaze with lights. My teacher and I have prepared two escape routes just in case. This one," he pointed down, "leads directly from the secret passage in the winter plum forest to Zhuoqing Pavilion—the residence bestowed upon my teacher by His Majesty in his early years."
When mentioning the secret passage, Pei Ji paused and looked at the dark night outside the window, as if penetrating time.
"The secret passage was left by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." His voice deepened. "On the north slope of the wintersweet forest, His Royal Highness personally planted green-calyx plum trees and built a viewing pavilion. In the past, when I served in the Imperial Garden, my teacher and I both lived in this pavilion. I don't know when His Royal Highness secretly ordered people to dig a tunnel from under the viewing pavilion to here."
Pei Ji's eyes flickered with a glimmer of reminiscence. "The Emperor has been extremely strict with Your Highness. Your Highness has always been self-disciplined and respectful, never transgressing the rules. Yet, time and again, like a young man sneaking out of the palace, he's come through this tunnel to find us."
A faint nostalgic arc appeared on his lips. "Admiring the moon, playing chess, boiling snow and making tea. Your Highness never tires of it. My teacher and I have a tacit understanding and have never pointed it out."
"After His Highness passed away, this secret passage has been sealed till now." The last syllable dissipated in the silence, leaving behind a heavy sense of melancholy.
Luo Zhaohan listened intently. The prince who died young was known to the world as frail but flawless.
Perfect?
When she first heard it, she just felt what a tiring life that would be.
At this moment, from Pei Ji's few words, one could glimpse a vivid and real shadow - a crown prince who would also act secretly just for a moment of freedom.
"Tonight, every step is thrilling." Pei Ji changed the subject, pulling her back to her thoughts. "Miss Luo might be wondering: knowing that Prince Jin set up this trap and Prince Rui is not innocent either, why did I go to such great lengths to lure the snake out of its hole and trap myself in it?"
Luo Zhaohan's heart trembled and he straightened his back instantly.
Here we come!
This is the key.
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