Chapter 91 Like Strong Wine (Part 3) Have you been drinking?
Zhi Rou walked past Wei Yuanzhan without stopping.
A sliver of light fell on the hem of her dress. He turned back to look at her retreating figure, whispered a word to Chang Huai, and then lifted his boots, being led westward by the eunuch.
The Empress waited for a full hour and a half.
The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, casting its rays section by section onto the floor tiles. The sounds of the konghou (a type of Chinese harp) filled the hall, creating a pleasant atmosphere. Thus, when word spread from outside that Miss Song had arrived, the Empress's jade-like face showed no sign of displeasure.
Zhi Rou followed the official in green robes across the threshold. Music drifted from inside, but it was not as good as it had been on the day they first met at the gathering. After all, Huai Xian's skills had become rusty during the three years he had spent in a foreign land, and there was a hint of sorrow in the music.
Zhi Rou entered with a solemn expression, her eyelashes always lowered. She knelt down, holding her skirt, and bowed, saying, "Your subject, Song Zhi Rou, greets Your Majesty the Empress."
The Empress raised her hand slightly, and Huai Xian stopped playing the zither, her eyes glancing briefly at the shadow on the ground.
Compared to how she treated her, Song Zhirou was completely unreserved today, seemingly displaying the most respectful demeanor she could muster. Huai Xian inwardly scoffed.
It turns out she does understand hierarchy, but she just never shows respect to her.
Considering Song Zhirou's situation, Huai Xian's displeasure lessened, and she even showed some sympathy. The Empress summoning Song Zhirou because of her was unlikely to be a good thing.
No one spoke in the hall; it was so quiet that one could hear their own breathing.
After a short while, the voice of Empress Jin Yu came from the head of the table, telling her to rise and not to stand on ceremony. Her face showed a slight expression, a hint of probing, and her eyes were fixed on Zhi Rou.
Under the sunlight, the girl's shoulders were tinged with gold, her bamboo-like spine stood straight, neither humble nor arrogant. Just looking at her like this, one could already see some of the youthful vigor of an old friend.
"Fourth Miss Song, come forward," the Empress said slowly.
Zhi Rou took two steps as instructed, feeling the superior's gaze lingering on her face. She tried her best to endure it, without even raising an eyebrow.
At the beginning of last year, Steward Xiao happened to bump into a lady at Song Congzhao's residence. According to his report, the lady was Song Congzhao's concubine. Because of her low status, she never attended banquets. It was just a coincidence that he ran into her that day.
Chief Steward Xiao, with his vast experience and photographic memory, returned to the Emperor and reported that the Lin woman bore a striking resemblance to the Third Miss Ling from years past. The Emperor and Empress were both astonished upon hearing this.
No one knows where Ling Xi went back then. Nearly twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, and suddenly a person who looks like her appears in the Song family mansion, and has a daughter.
The emperor, being suspicious, immediately sent his men to investigate. Unexpectedly, both she and her daughter's identities were documented, so the emperor temporarily released them, but soon sent men to investigate further.
The order to conduct this investigation had only been issued for a few days when a minor disturbance occurred at the Song residence.
A fortune teller prophesied that Lin He was destined to be alone, to bring misfortune to her husband and children, and that getting close to her would bring death and calamity—a sign of great sorrow and misfortune. Song Congzhao was furious and had the fortune teller taken to the government office. Not long after, Lin He broke off her thumb at home.
The emperor was nearing sixty, and although he was not senile, he was somewhat superstitious and devoted to certain beliefs. After saying that the Lin family was unlucky, he dropped the matter and did not mention it again for a whole year.
Upon Huai Xian's return to the country, the Empress suddenly remembered that Huai Xian had asked her for the fourth daughter of the Song family to go to Bei Li with him; she was the daughter of the Lin family.
Therefore, today's audience has taken place.
Upon closer inspection, she indeed resembled an old friend. Though her eyelashes were not yet raised, the contours of her features were exceptionally refined. Her posture was both supple and firm, suggesting she was skilled in martial arts, and she possessed a certain heroic air.
Before she arrived, the Empress was listening to Huai Xian talk about her experiences in Bei Li. Just from her words, she could already picture a vibrant image of her. Now, seeing this face before her and her story intertwined, the Empress couldn't help but feel envious of that wild vitality.
"According to Huai Xian, Miss Song not only speaks the language of the Northerners, but is also particularly skilled in archery and horsemanship, no less than the men of the grasslands."
Zhi Rou paused slightly upon hearing this, her gaze involuntarily drifting towards Huai Xian. After a moment, she lowered her brows and replied, "Your Highness flatters me. I only did this out of necessity for survival."
Her answer was neither arrogant nor did she deny her strengths, which the Empress greatly appreciated, and she ordered someone to give her a seat.
"I've heard that Miss Song once lived in Luozhou?"
Zhi Rou said yes.
The Empress's voice softened, revealing some of her natural timbre. If one ignored her imposing presence, she sounded like an ordinary woman with a hidden longing for the world outside the capital.
"I wonder how different the moonlight on the riverbanks of Jiangnan is from that in the capital? Everyone says that after the rain, the green mountains of Jiangnan are shrouded in mist. I have always wanted to go and see it."
Upon hearing this, Zhi Rou recalled the bluestone alleys and awning boats of Luozhou, where the willow catkins were soft and boneless, and in their prime, they resembled a spring snow.
Her guard gradually relaxed, and knowing that the Empress was sighing, she kept quiet.
Zhi Rou sat obediently in the chair, her hands folded on her knees, looking somewhat awkward. Suddenly, she heard the Empress ask, "When Miss Song was in Luozhou, who were her family members?"
She replied quickly: "Your Majesty, I live alone with my mother in a small rented courtyard on Yangzi Street in Luozhou. There is no one else around."
"Are you eighteen this year?"
"My daughter just celebrated her birthday last month; she turned eighteen."
Last month?
"yes."
That doesn't match up. The Empress's slender eyes lingered on Zhi Rou for a moment. In truth, she had a particularly good impression of her, but if Zhi Rou didn't have the surname Song, no matter how much she liked her, she still had to be eliminated for the sake of the Crown Prince.
After they had been talking for a while, announcements gradually came from outside that Wei Mingying had arrived.
The Empress was clearly surprised by her arrival. Zhi Rou silently got up, her gaze sweeping across the ground to catch a glimpse of a plain skirt hem, and she lowered her chin even further.
She guessed that Wei Mingying had come here at someone's request, and feeling guilty, she dared not raise her eyes.
What was originally a casual conversation between the Empress and Miss Song became somewhat oppressive with the addition of the Crown Prince's Consort.
Huai Xian was originally a front planted by the Empress. After sitting for a long time, she felt she couldn't stand it anymore. However, when she heard the two people above talking, their tone was still polite, but it revealed coldness and indifference.
Huai Xian felt utterly miserable, yet she couldn't leave. She and Zhi Rou could only exchange glances in secret. Unfortunately, Song Zhi Rou was also constantly being prompted by the Empress to answer questions, making her the most pitiful person in the palace.
As dusk fell, the Empress finally let Huai Xian go, but dined with Zhi Rou and Wei Mingying in the side room.
As darkness fell, the Empress still didn't know enough about Zhi Rou's situation. In addition, she had seen Wei Mingying and Zhi Rou being close in the afternoon, and her mind changed slightly. She decided to keep Zhi Rou in the palace overnight.
This is a trick by the Empress to bestow favors.
After Wei Mingying entered the Eastern Palace, her attitude towards the Empress became even more distant, showing only politeness and lacking the clingy affection of her youth. Later, when Wei Mingying became pregnant, the Empress was overjoyed and finally set aside her seniority, chatting with her intimately.
Recently, Wei Yuanzhan returned to the capital, and only then did the Crown Prince finally receive news that Wei Mingying had left the palace. She was willing to get out of bed and walk around, but this was the first time she had come to pay her respects to the Empress.
The Empress could see that she had feelings for Miss Song, and as soon as she spoke, Wei Mingying's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
For the first time ever, she yielded to the Empress, saying, "I rarely have the opportunity to meet my fourth sister. It is truly a rare occasion to see her today. I wish to take this opportunity to reminisce and ease my mind. I humbly request that Your Majesty grant me permission to allow my fourth sister to stay in the Eastern Palace tonight."
The empress is perfectly acceptable.
On their way back to the East Mansion from the palace, Wei Mingying and Zhi Rou chatted about the past. They didn't actually have much interaction, but every time they talked about it, Wei Mingying felt extremely happy, as if she had transferred her feelings back to her girlhood.
After getting off the carriage, the two entered the mansion hand in hand. The sky was already dark blue, and the mansion was brightly lit with lanterns, as if it were a starry river.
Wei Mingying never spoke of Yao Nu from beginning to end. When she spoke, there was a smile on her lips, but her eyebrows seemed to be out of control. Her two delicate eyebrows were stuck together, and there was a deep sense of depression between them.
She didn't have to go to the palace, didn't have to force a smile. A bitter feeling welled up in her heart, and her usually clear voice became slightly hoarse: "I've caused Sister Wei so much trouble..."
Wei Mingying was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. She turned to look at Wei Mingying's drooping eyelashes and thought that she had not concealed her feelings well and had revealed her sadness. She quickly and weakly curled her lips and said, "What are you saying? It's my fault that you are not returning to the Song residence tonight. Your family will probably be worried."
For others, it might be an honor to have the daughter of a foreign official stay overnight at the Crown Prince's Palace. But for Zhi Rou, it was not only unsettling, but also deeply guilt-ridden.
After taking a few slow steps towards the garden, Wei Mingying was indeed exhausted, but not wanting Zhirou to feel neglected, she forced herself to walk with her.
The moonlight shone like silk on the eaves. The snow in the capital had not yet fallen this year, but the weather was already chilly.
Zhi Rou pulled her clothes closer together, and caught a whiff of a strange fragrance. She couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "What's that smell?"
The words had barely left her lips when the figure beside her seemed to pause for a moment. She turned her head slightly, and Wei Mingying, looking dazed, suddenly focused her dark eyes: "It's Xiao Ling..."
She was vague in her words, but Zhi Rou gleaned from her affectionate tone and moist eyes that Xiao Ling was probably her daughter.
The words "please accept my condolences" were ultimately unspoken. Zhi Rou offered physical comfort, holding her slender hand at her side.
As she was enveloped in warmth, Wei Mingying smiled and said, "I'm fine. Someone once told me that there's no such thing as someone who can't survive without someone else."
Hearing these words from a mother who had just lost her child, Zhi Rou was stunned. Then she felt her hand being clenched tightly, a surge of immense resentment and vulnerability welling up within her. Wei Mingying's voice was choked with sobs: "She is connected to me by blood, how could she be just anyone..."
It sounded like a self-questioning, yet also like a accusation.
Zhi Rou didn't know who had said those heartless words to her. Just as she was about to respond, she unknowingly found herself in front of a pavilion.
The palace lanterns swayed in the wind, casting a dim yellow light on two figures in the pavilion. The young man in the narrow-sleeved robe stood opposite the Crown Prince. His lean and strong body was much taller than that of the noble prince. The tempering he had received in the army, with his sword and spear, made his sharpness undeniable, no matter how much he concealed his edge.
Zhi Rou looked at Wei Yuanzhan and said softly, "Xiao Ling is not the only one who is related to Sister Wei by blood."
Wei Mingying smiled wryly, her nose stinging: "Fourth Sister is right."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Crown Prince turned his head and glanced over here. He paused for a moment, then swung his robe and walked towards Wei Mingying.
Wei Yuanzhan lingered in the pavilion, his gaze sweeping outwards until it met Zhi Rou's eyes, which she hadn't had time to retreat from.
The Crown Prince was more handsome than expected. He spoke to Wei Mingying in a gentle tone, though he smelled slightly of alcohol. As soon as he approached, Zhi Rou looked away, frowned, and then remembered to bow to him.
In fact, three years ago, she was summoned by the Crown Prince. At that time, Enhe was provoking Huaixian with an archery. She fought with Enhe and stayed in the forest for a long time. The Crown Prince then summoned her for questioning. At that time, she did not raise her eyes.
The moon was already high in the sky. After hearing about the request to stay overnight, the Crown Prince was not too concerned. He didn't even bother to look at what the Fourth Miss Song looked like. He took Wei Mingying's hand in his own and walked away with her slowly.
Zhi Rou stood behind with her eyes downcast, and beside her was a maid from the Eastern Palace, who had been left to her by Wei Mingying.
As their figures gradually disappeared into the night, Zhi Rou took a step and climbed up to the pavilion.
This is the third time she has met Wei Yuanzhan today.
The pavilion looked like it had been used for a banquet; wine cups and leftover food lay scattered on the table, appearing somewhat desolate in the candlelight.
The night wind blew in all directions, creating ripples on the water's surface.
Zhi Rou stood beside Wei Yuanzhan. His fierce aura had not yet subsided, so when he saw her, he did not speak, but stared at her intently with his star-like eyes.
Smelling the same scent of alcohol as the Crown Prince's robes, Zhi Rou raised an eyebrow: "You've been drinking?"
Wei Yuanzhan didn't move. He stared at her from a distance that wasn't too close or too far for a while. His expression changed, and his voice was completely different from usual. It was low and scorching, making people's hearts flutter.
"A little bit."
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