Chapter 67 Previous Life (End)
"It is precisely because I am loyal to Your Majesty that I cannot bear to see such a wise ruler be tarnished by this infamy!" a minister pleaded with grief, bowing heavily to the ground. "I beg Your Majesty to revoke your order!"
"Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, you should be a role model for the world. Such immoral behavior is absolutely unacceptable!" The ministers were no longer silent. They kowtowed to the ground again and again, and would not stop even if their foreheads were broken and bleeding.
"Your Majesty!" The harem, led by the two virtuous concubines, also knelt and joined in the remonstration, "We beg Your Majesty to rescind your order!"
It was the dead of winter, and though a roaring charcoal fire burned inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the atmosphere was colder than anywhere else. The sound of kowtows continued uninterrupted, and even the faces of loyal and staid ministers were stained with blood. Yet, this tragic sight failed to move the emperor.
Chan Zhen slowly shifted his gaze towards the emperor with a cold expression, a faint smile on his lips.
Look, no one can accept this affair. A father taking his son's concubine is shocking no matter which dynasty it is. Why are you forcing it?
Receiving her gaze, Chen Dingyao's face darkened and he slowly closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them again and waved his hand downwards, saying with unwavering determination, "I have made my decision. This matter will not be changed!"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Everyone cried out in pain and knelt forward a few steps to beg for mercy.
However, Chen Dingyao ignored her and walked to Chan Zhen's side, holding her hand tightly without giving her a chance to refuse.
Zenzhen tried to struggle, but was unable to break free. Then he heard his resolute voice: "I love and cherish the Imperial Concubine above all else. From now on, as recorded in history books, the Imperial Concubine will be the only one who can stand by my side."
"..." Zen Zhen raised his head and looked at him in shock. Did he not even care about his reputation after his death?
After these words were spoken, all the ministers could not help but be stunned on the spot. There was silence all around, and no one continued to dissuade him. Only some old ministers looked dejected and shed tears silently.
Chanzhen has become a royal concubine in full and proper terms.
After the decree of appointing Chan Zhen as a concubine, Chen Dingyao calmly issued two more imperial decrees. One was to confer the title of Marquis Mu'en on Chan Zhen's father Song Ming and the title of Lady Rongguo on his biological mother. The other was to increase Chan Zhen's titles and rewards. The amount of money she received far exceeded the system of concubines and was almost equal to that of the queen.
After the decree was finalized, Chen Dingyao and Chan Zhen sat down side by side in public, then ordered people to clean up the blood on the ground and continue the banquet as usual, as if the thrilling banquet just now was just a passing cloud.
However, this night was destined to leave a significant mark in history books.
…
After the banquet, Chan Zhen returned to the Purple Palace. Seeing her distraught appearance, Chen Dingyao dismissed the palace servants and embraced her.
"I have ordered people to rest up in Fengqi Palace, but secretly I still want you to stay in Zichen Palace so that I can see you day and night."
Zen Zhen's expression was indifferent: "Your Majesty, aren't you tired of seeing my face every day?"
Chen Dingyao smiled and said, "I won't get tired of looking at you even if I spend my whole life looking at you."
After saying that, he lowered his head to kiss her lips, but Zen Zhen frowned and dodged. He pursed his lips and freed one hand to hold her chin, not giving her any chance to dodge. In her angry eyes, he kissed her fiercely.
Even when she was in Prince Jin's mansion, Chan Zhen had never endured such a strong plunder, as if the man wanted to swallow her up.
At first she insisted on keeping her lips closed to prevent him from entering, but when he noticed her resistance, he hugged her slender waist tighter, bit her lower lip lightly, and when she opened her lips slightly in pain, he seized the opportunity to slide his tongue in.
Unable to bear it any longer, Zen Zhen leaned back slightly, breathing softly from his lips and nose. His fingers pushed his chest feebly, but he was unable to shake this iron wall even a little bit.
"Chanzhen..." He murmured her name, and Chanzhen felt his breath fill her mouth and nose, hot and overbearing, penetrating everywhere. She didn't want to look at this face that was too similar to the King of Jin, so she could only close her eyes tightly.
However, in the darkness, all her senses became clearer. His warm palms wandered around her waist, causing her to shiver. Then his lips moved to her neck, being close yet distant but still unwilling to give her a clear answer.
Zen Zhen knew that he was forcing himself. He wanted him to open his body and mind completely to him, to fall with him, and no longer just watch indifferently.
But she doesn't want to!
Why should she give him what he wants? He wanted her sincerity, but he never cared about her wishes. She could have had a peaceful and stable life, but he insisted on dragging her into an abyss of no return, forcing her to live in curses for the rest of her life.
Zen Zhen clenched his fingers, trying hard to suppress the restlessness and desire deep in his heart.
Sensing her persistence and resistance, his eyes darkened, a cold, dark tide sweeping across them. He pressed his palm hard on the small of her back, and immediately felt her waist tremble and soften. A smile flashed across his eyes, and he turned around with his arm around her, taking a few steps towards the bed.
After a lot of uproar, Zen Zhen was pinned under him.
"Zenzhen..." He gently stroked her slightly hot cheek, with fascination in his eyes.
Zen Zhen was panting and turned his face away, unwilling to look at him.
"When I first saw you, I felt that you were very pitiful." Her forehead was soaked with sweat in the sunlight, and her black hair was tangled around her face. When she saw him, she was stunned for a moment, then she lowered her head timidly. From his perspective, she only saw a delicate and moist snow-white neck, which made him unforgettable in countless midnight dreams.
Zen Zhen's face was indifferent and motionless, but his mind unconsciously recalled the scene when he first met him.
She had been kneeling for a long time and was not very clear-headed. When she was about to faint, she heard a long singing voice in her ears.
Then he appeared in front of her, casting a shadow over her head. She subconsciously raised her head and met his condescending gaze, like a strong lion overlooking its prey.
She felt frightened, so she quickly lowered her head, struggled to stand up, and kowtowed to him.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." She had been kneeling for so long that her voice was weak and her body couldn't help but tremble.
He said "hmm" lightly, then asked her: "Why are you kneeling here?"
She bit her lip and said, "I have done something wrong and was punished by Her Majesty the Concubine to reflect on my mistakes by facing the wall."
In fact, she didn't think it was all her fault at the time. She was just a concubine, and she couldn't refuse His Royal Highness Prince Jin's favor. But Concubine Shu was convinced that she had bewitched His Royal Highness, and she had no way to refute it and could only accept it.
The gaze above her head became increasingly scorching and intense. She thought it was just an illusion caused by kneeling for too long, so she shrank her body and dared not move.
After a long time, I felt the pressure on my head suddenly ease, and the black hem of the clothes that was within reach passed by me and gradually disappeared into the distance.
Soon, the palace maid beside Concubine Shu came running over to tell her that she didn't have to kneel anymore, and sent a carriage to take her back to the palace.
Originally, she thought that Concubine Shu had finally vented her anger and let her go. After hearing what he said, she realized that perhaps he had said something for her after seeing Concubine Shu.
Her cold expression softened a little, but she still didn't want to look at him.
He was not annoyed at all. He inserted his slender fingers into her hair and combed her hair.
"I originally thought I was just feeling pity for you, but now I think I fell in love with you at first sight."
She was so beautiful, yet so thin and weak, and she trembled under his gaze like a poor little deer.
Zen Zhen felt inexplicably irritated and interrupted him: "Isn't it possible that Your Majesty was just attracted by beauty?"
Love at first sight? She only had beauty, how could she have made such a high and mighty emperor fall in love with her at first sight?
"It's not wrong to say I was attracted by your beauty," he didn't deny. "I just thought you were beautiful. I couldn't forget you."
"No matter how beautiful a face is, it will eventually grow old." Zen Zhen said coldly.
Her mother was also a rare beauty, attracting countless admirers in her youth, and countless red silks were sung by her. But even before such a beauty faded, her father had forgotten her and ignored her for many years. If her father, a mere businessman, could be so heartless, how much more so was a king who held a vast kingdom and countless beauties.
"That day hasn't come yet, so how can you be sure that I will change my mind?" He said in a deep voice, "That's not fair to me. Are you treating Yun Yi the same way?"
Zen Zhen was upset and deliberately stabbed him: "Your Highness and I are in love, which is different from you."
As soon as she finished speaking, he grabbed her neck, but he was just making a vague gesture and didn't use too much force.
"Zhenzhen, don't make me angry." The veins on his forehead were throbbing, but he tried his best to restrain himself from getting angry at her.
"What will happen if you get angry?" Zen Zhen desperately grasped his hand that was strangling his neck and pressed down, "You might as well just kill me."
When he saw her fearless look, he suddenly withdrew his hand as if he was burned by fire.
"You just take advantage of the fact that I can't bear to touch you." He smiled bitterly and buried his head in her shoulder.
"Your Majesty, are you still reluctant to let me go?" Tears welled up in her eyes, a bitter smile played on her lips. "You are the one who put me in this unbearable situation, causing me no peace. So this is what you mean by reluctant to let me go?"
"Unbearable?" He closed his eyes. He knew that his feelings for her were unbearable and improper, destined to be cursed by everyone. "But I can't turn back."
For the sake of loving her, he wrote a stigma for himself with his own hands and cut off all his escape routes.
Just to love her, just to be able to walk with her in public openly.
"I love you."
In the past thirty years, he had never thought that he would love someone as madly as he did now.
"Don't ever think that I will let you go, in this life or the next." He had already walked into the quagmire, and he would never allow her to leave him.
He kissed her deeply again, holding her hand tightly and interlocking their fingers. He would not let her leave his side even a step.
Chan Zhen closed her eyes, unable to hold back a tear that fell from the corner of her eye, seeping into the bedclothes, leaving a deep tear mark. She felt like a small boat in the boundless ocean, swaying in the wind and rain, but unable to escape the deep whirlpool beneath her feet.
Perhaps this is her fate, to be entangled with him like this until the day she dies.
…
Chanzhen felt as if she had woken from a lifetime of dreaming. She stared blankly at the bed curtains overhead, her chest filled with emptiness and confusion. Gradually, a heavy sense of grief washed over her, making her feel like a weight weighing a thousand pounds was weighing down her heart. She felt so miserable she wished she were dead.
"Zenzhen." The man sat beside her bed, holding her hand tightly. His face was haggard, and he looked a little nervous and anxious.
Looking at the man in front of him who once made him deeply love and be obsessed with him, Zen Zhen's heart is now filled with sadness and desolation.
"Your Majesty, how long do you intend to deceive me?"
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